Further on Down the Road
by Ultrawoman
Summary: After Moreau is dealt with, Eliot feels he must leave the team, maybe just for a while or maybe forever. Parker thinks its a bad idea for him to go away at all, and handles it in her own singular way. Post-Season 3, E/P.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: New fic. This idea has been in my head for quite a while now, partially inspired by shabbytiger's Not Gone Fishin', fuelled by my want/need to write a pure E/P fic with no other people/plot lines to worry about, and I really hope it doesn't suck! lol**

_**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters from Leverage belong to other folks that aren't me.**_

Chapter 1

Most guys might keep an eye on the clock or the tachometer to know how far they'd driven in their long journey. Most guys were not Eliot Spencer. Honestly, he wasn't sure he cared exactly where he was at this point, so long as he got to where he was going eventually. Even then, the place didn't matter so very much, since Eliot still wasn't entirely convinced that he'd feel any better when he got there.

The team all understood why he needed to leave for a while. He was non-specific as to how long or where, the first because he didn't know, the second because he didn't care to tell. They were thieves just like him, all with deep dark secrets, so they asked no further questions. Sophie told him he better not do anything stupid, and Nate and Hardison looked stoney-faced in response. Eliot never made any promises when he left, just shook hands and exchanged hugs, walking away before he cracked.

It was bad enough that the team he had come to look upon as a kind of family had to find out about the man he used to be. Working for Moreau was the worst decision he ever made the whole course of his life, and Eliot meant what he said that day in the park. He completed his worst trials for that evil being, because the hitter would not use the word 'man' to describe Moreau anymore. So much blood on his hands and guilt enough to drown his soul. There would never be freedom for him now, Eliot knew that, but maybe he could drive far enough to at least pretend he could be okay again.

The sign declared he was now leaving Danbury, the first marker Eliot had paid any real attention to in a while. Just a couple more hours and he'd land up in New York if he wasn't careful. Sure, it was as good a place as any to stop to eat, but better to keep on moving. Of all the places to hide out, the Big Apple wasn't one of them. Besides, one of the points of this trip was to get some peace and quiet, get some perspective. Staying out of sight and out of mind was easier away from the big cities.

It was weird to think he hadn't known where he was until that moment, but then Eliot's head had plenty to keep his mind busy. He was watching the road enough not to hit any oncoming cars, to stop at red lights and all, paying attention enough to his driving to stay below sixty-five without a problem. That was about all Eliot was aware of, the rest of his mind wandering away to the past.

Damien Moreau. The very name made his flesh creep even now, for crimes he had committed, and those he had Eliot take on for him. For dumping Hardison in the pool to drown, for planning to shoot Sophie down. For slugging Nate in the mouth, and for making him consider life without Parker.

It was a toss up for Eliot whether he hated Moreau more for what he had made him become or the crime lord's latest work in trying to take away the family the hitter had inadvertantly built around himself. It wasn't as if he was the only person in the world with a grudge against the asshole, but Eliot perhaps felt it more keenly than most. Too many years before invested in pleasing the boss, too many after regretting almost every second. It made him feel worse that he didn't regret more. Perhaps he should, it would certainly be easier if putting Moreau in jail under San Lorenzo took away all that he had done, but it didn't.

Justice was a strange thing. Though Moreau could and probably would spent the rest of his life rotting in a cell, it wouldn't really make up for all that he had done, for all that he had Eliot and others like him do. Lives taken, others destroyed. Wives without husbands and children without fathers. Just as no amount of washing could really take the blood from Eliot's hands, no number of years spent luxuriating in jail would mend all that Moreau was responsible for.

Eliot closed his eyes a moment at a red light and pushed the darkness away. Sure, he came on this trip to think, but now all he was doing was making circles in his head that went down ever deeper into the black. He wasn't helping himself, wasn't helping anyone. All he was achieving was depression, and feeling sorry for yourself was never a good look. Curving around the I84 onto the I684, Eliot let the view fly by in a blur of green, breathing in the fresh air of a thousand trees, and the feeling of being completely alone.

Solitude was an odd thing too. Eliot was used to being a loner, for the longest time it was all he wanted. It was why it struck him as so strange that he could be part of a team and actually learn to love it. Family were a long ways away and friends didn't come too easy in his line of work. Still the four other people that made up Team Leverage had got under his skin and into what was left of his soul somehow. He needed them a lot of the time, though he pretended he didn't. They made him feel whole, made the loneliness that would always fight to keep a hold of him seem to lose its grip a little more each day, right up until a week ago.

Standing in that park, confessing that he had worked for Moreau and done such unimaginably horrible things. The horror in Sophie's tone, the pain in Parker's eyes. The anger from Hardison, the severe look from Nate. It all tore open a wound he knew these same people had helped to heal. Eliot wasn't like them, he wasn't a good person. They had the capacity to change, they were just thieves and they didn't really hurt people, not like him. Eliot was a bad guy, he was fully aware of it, now more than ever before. He had to live with that, but his team didn't.

Right now, the hitter was glad to be alone, pleased enough to run from the label of his job, the blackness of his past, the pain and mistrust he had caused amongst his team-turned-family. Happy was pushing it, to say the least, but it was good to be here, out on the open road, heading in the right direction for the first time in way too long.

Out here, Eliot Spencer was as he had once been too many years ago to consider, nevermind actually count. He was a wannbe cowboy, a country dweller, a good ol' boy like the song used to say. He could be lowly but strong as a farmer, as famous and rich as a country singing star, or anything in between. The things he might have been, if the world was different, if he'd taken a different path, even just one different turn along the road that was his life.

Eliot pushed his hair back out of his face when the wind through the open window caught it, then turned up the radio when a song he liked came on. This was a life he could live, here in this moment, racing down the interstate with the wind literally in his hair and shades blocking the sun from his eyes. Country music filled the truck and his head, and with the road so open and empty, Eliot could almost drive along at a reasonable speed with his eyes closed. It felt good, almost good enough to make him smile, almost.

A weird noise from the back caught his attention, maybe the fourth or fifth time since he left Boston. It hadn't sounded bad enough for him to get out and check the truck. He didn't recognise it as a mechanical fault or anything, he knew those noises that meant trouble, they were very distinctive sounds.

If he had stopped anywhere, Eliot might've thought he had an animal bedding down in the back of the truck. Maybe a racoon or a stray dog, but he doubted anything leapt in whilst he was driving. There was a town up ahead, Katonah so the signs said. There was a good chance they had a garage and somewhere to get some decemt food maybe. He hadn't thought about food until now, but as the thought occurred to him, Eliot realised he could eat.

Heading into town, his eyes scanned left and right. A coffee shop, a restaurant, a few small stores, and then a garage where he might fill up the tank and check on the rattling noise in the back of the truck. He pulled up on the forecourt near the gas pumps, turned off the engine and just sat there a moment. No movement in the mirrors, but still a sound from the back of the truck, and as the breeze blew from behind now, Eliot knew just exactly what kind of hitchhiker he had inadvertently picked up.

Taking off his sunglasses and tossing them on the dash, the hitter pulled his keys from the ignition and got out of the truck, slamming the door hard enough to make the whole vehicle shake. She barely made a sound, but it had to have stunned her, even a little bit. It might have been a funny situation, if Eliot wasn't damned pissed about it. He walked along the side of the truck, four audible steps in his heavy thudding boots, knowing as well as she ought to that he was the one person she could not out-wit, not today, not ever.

"You got til the count of three, Parker," he said with a growl in his voice that might've scared anyone who didn't know him as well as she did. "One. Two..."

He was half a second from 'Three' when she pulled the tarp back from over her head and looked at him with a sullen pouty expression. Honestly, Eliot was just a little relieved that she revealed herself when she did. He wasn't sure exactly how he was going to handle this if she hadn't. On the count of three he had to do something or be accused of empty threats - that never happened before and it wasn't' starting here. Unfortunately, hauling the ass of a blonde woman out of the back of your truck and dumping her on the ground wasn't exactly going to look good to any passers by. Hell, it wasn't going to seem great that she was in the back of his truck at all, but right now all Eliot could care about was why she was here at all.

"There's no way you could know it was me," said Parker indignantly, still sat cross-legged behind the truck's cab with the covering all around her. "I got in without you seeing, you've been driving for miles, there's no way!"

Eliot forgot to be mad as he listened to her go on. She did so hate to be caught, even in a game or a situation like this where it wasn't exactly life and death or even jail. Parker thought she was the best, in a hundred ways she really was, but she seemed to forget that Eliot was the very best at what he did too.

"Darlin', you don't want a person to know you're stowing away?" he said with a hint of smirk he couldn't help as he set his forearms on the side of the truck bed and leant over to meet her eyes at the right level. "Don't shift around so much when I'm driving, it makes a noise," he advised her. "More than that, switch hair products," he told her, flicking her blonde ponytail and making it swing even more than it already was as she shook her head crossly. "That's a very distinctive shampoo," he said, still smirking as he turned and started walking away.

Parker opened her mouth to speak, but as if he had seen her do it, Eliot cut in first.

"Go home, Parker," he called over his shoulder. "Be gone before I get back. That's all I'm sayin'".

Eliot headed across the street to a quaint looking cafe type place with pastries in the window and a promise of the best cup of coffee in town. It was probably a lie but he could use the caffeine shot and the food. It was a long time since he drove this far and this long, and the chances were good he was going to have to deal with Parker for at least the rest of today. She wouldn't leave, first because she knew his threats were empty when it came to her, and second because she had to have a reason for following him. There was a question in her head, he was pretty certain on that. Parker wouldn't leave until she got her answer, that he knew for sure.

The bell on the cafe door rang as Eliot parked himself in a seat and gave the waitress his order. Without looking over he knew it was Parker, and threw a soda and an extra pastry on the order before she ever sat down.

"You lied," she said plainly, when the waitress was barely out of ear-shot.

That made Eliot mad, a growl emanating from his lips before he could check it. He didn't lie to his team, and especially not to Parker. It was what made their conversation in the park that day so intense. She asked what he did for Moreau and he meant what he said, if she asked again he would tell her, no matter how much it hurt. It was that very thing that made him want to get away, knowing what they would think of him, what _she_ would think of him if he told the whole truth.

"I don't lie to you, Parker," he reminded her, eyes like steel, but she didn't flinch at all.

"Not usually, maybe not even on purpose this time," she conceded, working the knots out of her back and shoulders where she had been hunched in the back of his truck for too many hours. "But you did lie when you left," she repeated. "You said you'd definitely come back... you didn't mean that. You couldn't guarantee it".

Eliot opened his mouth to argue but shut it again immediately because he knew he didn't have words to say that would be convincing, that wouldn't be a lie on top of a lie. She was right, but that wasn't what really bothered Eliot, it was the fact he thought he'd gotten away with it, at least with her and maybe Hardison. Nate was sharp enough, Sophie read people for a living, he wondered if they had their doubts about his coming back, but he thought the other two would trust him. He could read Parker better than most these days, he'd learnt over these past few years how to do it, even with Little Miss Twenty Pounds of Crazy. What struck Eliot most was that she had done the same, learnt to see past a mask he had spent years perfecting. He meant what he said about telling her the truth, he always tried to do that, but he figured if he ever needed to hide a little he would be able to with her. He ought to have known better.

"Parker..." he sighed at length, glad of the waitress distracting them a moment with food and drink, just so he didn't have to know what to say next for a minute. "Sweetheart, you can't be here," he told her, mostly looking into his coffee as he stirred it pointlessly. "I gotta do this on my own, get past this. I didn't lie about that, I never meant to lie about anything but... but I have to do this alone".

"Why?" her immediate question was akin to a child's permanent curiosity and made Eliot want to yell on automatic - he resisted that urge only because she continued to talk. "We're a team now, that means nobody goes out on their own anymore. That's what you told me after I went to help Archie and got caught up in that Steranko. Now you're doing the same thing",

"It's not the same thing," he immediately replied. "This isn't a job, Parker. My ass isn't on the line here. I just, I need some time away from all of that, y'know?"

He didn't really expect her to understand, she couldn't. Sure, she was a thief, technically a bad guy as far as the authorities were concerned, but good in her heart at least. Parker never hurt anybody, not really, not like he had, and way too many times now. She couldn't know what it was to need to out-run your own emotions, your own past.

Eliot waited for Parker to argue, but she didn't. She just sat there picking at her pastry, trying to figure out if she wanted the dried fruit pieces in her mouth or not. Eliot drank his coffee, pushed his own sweet treat away because he couldn't find a taste for it now. He didn't do comfort food and that was all this would be in the face of defeat. He had certainly been beaten here, and he knew it. Parker was coming along on this trip whether he liked it or not, and the smile on her lips when she glanced at him then proved she knew it too.

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Woah, look at all those reviews! I mean, yay and thank you, so very glad to have them, but no way did I expect 15 on the first chapter alone! lol Really hope the rest of this fic doesn't disappoint as we go on...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 2

Eliot wasn't sure when he came to realise that of all the things he could talk his way out of, Parker wasn't one of them. She got under his skin somewhere along the line. Maybe it started the first day they met, maybe sometime between their time in LA and after in Boston, he honestly didn't know. The fact was, if she wanted something and he could give it to her, somehow he always would, whether he meant to or not.

She liked her own way, she was used to getting whatever she wanted, and Eliot found he was no exception when it came to her sneaky thieving ways. In the space of five minutes, she had stolen his personal journey out from under him. Now it was a road trip for two, no arguments. Well, hell, if there wasn't at least going to be some rules!

"No touching my radio," he told her, gently slapping her hand away from the dial and resetting it to his favourite station that played mostly country with a side of rock. "That's rule one, you got that?"

"Yes, sir," Parker said in an over-the-top way, saluting for good measure.

Eliot growled crossly in response, already sure this was a bad idea. When he found her in the back of his truck at his first stop, he knew damn well that telling her to go home and leave him be was the best plan. Trouble was, she didn't want to go, and he knew why. She cared, and he couldn't be mad at her for that exactly.

It took a lot for Parker to care about anybody but herself, and yet here she was, having more or less admitted that she was here to watch his back like he had so many times for her. Eliot would like to regret his own words that she now used against him, the things he said to her after all that business with her 'father', Archie Leech. They were a team now, they didn't go off half-cocked and alone. That was exactly what he'd done, though he had at least bothered to say goodbye. Clearly those words had sounded way too permanent to Parker, and she would not stand idly by while a member of her new-found family walked out the door and drove off into the sunset, maybe for good.

Looking sideways at her now, Eliot watched Parker watching the scenery go by with a smile on her face. He wondered how much of the world she had really seen. She had travelled around, they all had, but she was so fixated on the job she was doing, the thing she was stealing at the time, it made Eliot think she probably hadn't ever taken time out to appreciate the world and nature and all. Perhaps this trip would be as good for her as it was for him, though the idea of being stuck in her company twenty four seven was not as appealing as it might be.

Parker was a good person and he had learnt to live with her crazy ways over the past three years or so. Still, Eliot always knew he had an escape from her, from the whole team before. He could go home, go away, get out. On this trip, there was really nowhere to go. She seemed dead set on not leaving him and he would never forgive himself if he just left her some place, even if it was the next town rather than the side of the interstate. Eliot had enough to feel guilty about already, it was why he was here, mostly anyway, he was not going to allow Parker to add to a too long list of bad things he had done.

"You're not going to make as many car rules as Hardison has for his van, are you?" she asked out of the blue.

"That depends," Eliot replied, eyes on the road always. "I don't listen to Hardison's van rules, so I wouldn't even know what they are".

Parker might've at least sniggered at that comment, if she were listening properly. As it was she was counting off Hardison's rules on her fingers before Eliot had barely finished speaking.

"No touching anything electrical unless he says so. No eating. No drinking - which is totally hypocritical because he _always_ has soda in there. No talking when he's concentrating, which is usually hacking or surveilling. Oh, and no climbing on the roof or riding on the outside when he's driving," Parker sighed. "That's the worst one".

Eliot shook his head, feeling a little dazed. Those were pretty sensible rules, but some that you would only need if you had a girl like Parker hanging around. Hardison loved his Lucille like nothing else, cared even more for her well-being than Parker's fun apparently, and that was saying something.

"I don't have that many rules about my truck," he told her easily. "You can eat and drink if you have to, but you make a mess in here and we're not gonna get along so well, you got that?" he told her with a glance that would have been scary if Parker didn't know the hitter so well.

"That's cool," she shrugged. "Don't touch the radio, and don't spill," she recounted. "Not a problem," she nodded once, getting comfortable in her seat and watching the world spin by once more.

It occurred to Eliot then that she hadn't asked where they were going. He probably wouldn't have told her if she had, but it was weird that she never cared to ask the question. Most people would not be happy about a magical mystery tour like this, especially with a guy like him, but then Parker had proved time and again that she was nothing like any other person Eliot ever met.

She was so used to being dragged around as a kid and then running from trouble when she became a thief, it probably just never bothered Parker where she landed up. Much like Eliot, she seemed to like to travel light and keep on moving, at least until they got snared by the team and became part of something more solid. It had seemed that way, some place permanent to call home, not Boston perhaps, but with this group of people, in this weird hybrid family unit. It was all less clear now, coming apart at the seams, little by little.

Eliot wasn't really aware of his own actions until he saw Parker react to the fact he had hit the steering wheel so hard. She looked over at him with surprise and he spared her a glance, an apology in the back of his throat but never quite making it out. It couldn't really matter that he startled her. She was settled back down in her seat two seconds later, humming along to a tune she recognised on the radio. Eliot might have been a little surprised or even mildly amused that Parker knew any country music, but he wasn't exactly paying any real attention. His mind had been elsewhere since the moment he left Boston, it seemed almost safer that way, and yet the places in the past were as dangerous to wander into as the present reality, maybe worse in fact.

"Why didn't you want to come back?" said Parker in the silence that went on way too long for her liking, after the song she liked was over and another she didn't care for began.

"I never said I wasn't coming back," Eliot growled low in his throat.

He didn't like this topic of conversation, and yet he knew before long it was going to come around again. They hadn't really established the truth of anything in the coffee shop. She accused him of lying when he left and he hadn't quite managed to deny it, but he never did explain himself and she never told him how she could be so sure he lied in the first place.

"You have most of your clothes in the back," she noted, never taking her eyes off her own fingers as she worked to remove the last of the wrecked nail polish there. "All the important stuff from your place - your guitar, a photo album, the sword Nate and Sophie got you last Christmas..."

"Did you go through everything back there?" he asked her, part annoyed, part astonished that she had managed to do so without him really noticing.

"Yes," she answered simply, clearly not understanding what an invasion of privacy that was, but then Parker hardly ever got that kind of thing, even three years down the road from Job One. "I mean, I packed all my essentials too, but then that's because I figured if you weren't coming back then maybe I wouldn't either".

Eliot frowned at that and very nearly forgot to keep his eyes on the road. He always knew that Parker was one of the few people left in the world that could still surprise him, but now she had done it twice in less than a day and it was the most disturbing thing. She had come along on this trip with him, in some misguided attempt to keep him safe and watch his back, like he had so many times before for her. Now she was admitting, all free and easily, that she had packed up her life to bring along with, having a genuine understanding of the fact that she might never go back to the family he knew she held so dear.

"You'd miss 'em too much," he shook his head then. "You need Sophie and Nate to play Momma and Daddy. You got too used to it to just up and walk that way," he told her.

"Maybe," Parker shrugged, wondering vaguely why he hadn't mentioned Hardison at all, but letting it go for now because it wasn't the point. "I've had a lot of foster parents and some of them were nice, and yeah, I guess I missed them after I left, but I never regretted it," she shook her head. "I promised myself at age eight that I was never going to end up anywhere that I didn't want to be," she emphasised with a finger pushed definitely into her own chest.

She was in charge of her own destiny, she was determined about that, and if nothing else Eliot had to respect that attitude. He shared it, in a lot of ways. After Moreau in particular, he was determined to make his own way in the world, to not be under anyone's thumb anymore, to not put himself into a place where he had to feel that way again. It was strange how much he and Parker had in common these days, or maybe it was there all along and he just hadn't thought on it until now.

"Hold on a second," he said as realisation hit suddenly. "You were eight when you first went out on your own?" he checked, glad he could dare to look at her a moment on the straight and empty road.

"Uh-huh," Parker nodded, clearly not getting that it should be a shock to anyone.

She was also oblivious to the fact that Eliot was waiting for her to further explain how that had happened. If she had realised, she might have told the story. It wasn't like it mattered anymore and she knew she could trust Eliot with that kind of thing. As it was, she just shifted the subject again without a moments pause.

"My bag is under the tarp, pushed into the corner between a couple of boxes," she told him. "Just in case you look back there later and wonder what that is".

"You brought one bag on a trip you thought you were never going home from?" asked Eliot before shaking his head and answering his own question. "Of course you did, you're Parker," he realised aloud.

It made sense to him, that she learnt to travel so light. She'd have some clothes, maybe wash stuff, he guessed. No doubt there was a harness and lines stuffed in that bag, and essential food, which for Parker would be cereal and candy. There was nothing else she would really want or need, he supposed, except for little things like lock picks and such, and they were probably in her pockets, never far enough away to be lost.

It was still weird to the hitter to realise that the crazy little thief could live without so many material things, and yet seemed determined to not have a person like him slip through her fingers. Sure, folks should care more for people they loved than items they owned, but Eliot never considered Parker felt much of anything for him. They were a team and they had each others backs, but it was kind of above and beyond for her to hide away in his truck like this and come along on a journey that might never take either of them back to where they started.

Parker pushed herself down into her seat, eyes closed, humming along to the radio again. Eliot frowned some as he realised this was the next in a long line of country songs she seemed to know. He never had her down as a fan of that kind of music, or a fan of any music really, not enough to know the tunes and some of the words. It occurred to him he didn't think much about anything Parker did outside of her job. She was the very definition of a woman - an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Maybe this trip would change that and he'd get to know her better here, since getting to know himself only created a bad feeling in the pit of Eliot's stomach these days.

"I didn't have you down for a country music fan, darlin'," he told her with a smirk, though his eyes remained on the road, checking the mile marker for the next town.

The sky was beginning to darken, it was best they found a place to sleep for the night. Eliot could sleep in the truck if he had to but he had no reason to try it. Besides, sharing the space with Parker would make things that much more complicated.

"You don't know everything about me," she smiled, still with her eyes closed against the remaining light. "I had a life before the team, before I was even a thief," she sighed quietly, continuing to hum along to the radio.

Eliot found himself smiling too and joining in with the lyrics to the song that floated through the truck. So far this trip was nothing like he planned, but truth be told, it wasn't half bad.

_To Be Continued..._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating. I really didn't mean to take this long! Thank you soooo much for all the lovely reviews. You peops make me so happy with your wonderful feedback, so please do keep it coming :)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 3

Parker looked to be half asleep in her seat when Eliot pulled off the I80 and drove up to the next hotel. He'd passed a half dozen in the past few miles, but trusted his instincts to know when one was worth stopping at. This place was big enough and looked smart and clean, he figured they'd get reasonable service. The biggest places, part of chain, tended to pay no mind to customers nor cleanliness. The little family-run stops were nice enough but poked their nose into your business if you weren't careful, and that was the very last thing Eliot needed. He didn't think much about what Parker would think, after all, this was his trip and she was the one insisting she had to come along for whatever reason. She would just have to go along with whatever he said.

"Where are we?" she asked, jolting awake the moment the truck stopped and the radio cut out.

Whether it was the smooth driving, the hum of the engine, or the music that had kept her sleeping like a baby so long, Eliot couldn't figure. He only hoped she wasn't now ready to be wide awake and bouncing like a kid on a sugar high when he wanted to get some rest himself.

"Pennsylvania," he told her, and apparently it was the best she was getting. "Now, move your butt out of the truck, we gotta get a room for the night," he added, opening the door and hopping out.

Parker followed suit since she seemed to have no choice. She glanced once at the hotel and shrugged her shoulders. It didn't bother her much where they slept. In the truck was very nearly working for her anyway. She could sleep hanging upside down in an elevator shaft, or in the cover of a shop doorway if she had to. A bed was a bonus and knowing Eliot was around to see she didn't come to harm meant not having to keep one eye open whilst she dozed, that was an even bigger advantage.

It was weird being just the two of them, and weirder still that Parker didn't feel all that strange about it. They were loners most of the time, so when they weren't with the team, they were by themselves. Parker had her own place, Eliot had his, and neither were much for hanging out and idle conversation. That was okay, it meant they both understood the silence that existed between them on this trip, and it was the comfortable kind. Of course, nobody could be silent all the time, that would be crazy.

"I was thinking about the team," she said, as Eliot pulled back the tarp that covered the back of the truck and reached for his bag of essentials.

He didn't answer her, in fact Parker wondered if he heard her at all. She was sure he must have, since there was only the back of the truck between them. There were no other people around, no strong wind or driving rain making sound. It was warm and calm and quiet here, and yet Eliot appeared to be temporarily deaf to her words. All Parker got in reply to her comment was her bag being flung at her across the space. She caught it easily, but that wasn't the point.

"Do you think they miss us?" asked Parker, still standing in her spot, even as Eliot swung his bag back over his shoulder and started walking towards the front door of the hotel.

He stopped suddenly when she asked that, but didn't turn back at all.

"It's only been one day, Parker," he reminded her, glancing at her then with a sigh of annoyance. "But honestly? I don't know if they will miss us, and... and right now, I don't care," he shook his head.

The little thief nodded once and then hurried around the front of the truck to catch up to him. Eliot was serious a lot of the time, but he was a whole different kind of grim since they took down Moreau. Parker never saw him look so pained as that day in the park when he confessed that he once worked for the worst and most powerful bad guy Team Leverage ever took on. From that day to this, he had been so deadly serious, so easy to anger, much more so than usual. There was a pain buried in him that Parker hadn't known about until he looked at her that day and begged her not to ask what he'd done for Moreau. She figured that same pain was why he had run from the team the way he had, and that same wound in his heart had made her hide in his truck and come along for this trip.

People think they need to be alone to figure out their problems, their internal pain and suffering. Parker herself always thought that was the best way, running from people, their kind words and comfort. Since joining the team, being part of a real caring family, albeit a strange one, they had taught her differently. Things hurt less when you let those that loved you help to ease the pain. Eliot didn't seem to realise that yet, but he would, and Parker wanted to be there for him when he did, just like he had been there to save her so many times and in so many different ways.

They walked into the hotel Reception, one behind the other, and faced the plump middle-aged woman behind the desk. Since Eliot gave Parker no direction as to what cover they might be using or anything, she stayed a step behind him, hoping to work off whatever he said. She doubted very much they would give their real names or anything, because that never happened!

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Eliot smiled, ringing the bell on the desk for good measure.

Parker frowned at how suddenly happy he looked. It wasn't real, just an act for the lady behind the desk, but if he could pretend for somebody he didn't know she wondered why he didn't make more effort with her.

"How can I help you?" asked the Receptionist, looking up at Eliot with a sultry smile of her own, then she spotted Parker and her expression changed.

"Me and, er, my sister here," he said, looking sideways at Parker. "We're looking for a room for the night, and I'm really hoping you have some space here, at a price we can afford".

He was playing it like a sob story to get them a reasonable deal. Parker didn't mind that. She wasn't sure how much she appreciated being passed off as his sister, especially when the other woman's eyes lit up at the prospect of Eliot being single. There was no way in hell Parker was willing to play third wheel for any part of this trip.

"Actually, he's my step-brother, and he's been driving for hours, he's really tired and grumpy. Always grumpy if he doesn't get enough sleep," she explained, throwing an arm around Eliot's neck and pulling him towards her. "Actually, he's grumpy most of the time, but you gotta love him, y'know? I guess I just love him too much," she explained, pertaining a Southern drawl to match his own. "That's why we're here, 'cause our parents couldn't handle the fact we're lovers now".

Eliot's eyes were wide as saucers and the Receptionist looked more than a little confused by the younger woman's over-zealous affection but said nothing. She had heard more odd stories than this, and sometimes it was best just not to ask questions. She got on her computer and checked for available rooms for the night, whilst Eliot unhooked Parker's arm from his neck and glared at her. She smiled back innocently enough, then poked out her tongue when he dared to growl at her. She didn't care what he thought. He was making this trip even more miserable than she had imagined, and she was bored with that. She wanted fun. This was fun.

"We have just one double room left," said the Receptionist awkwardly.

"We'll take it," Parker chimed in fast, before Eliot had a chance to work up some charm and make an excuse for something else that might be more appropriate than his sharing a bed with twenty pounds of crazy!

Sharing a room with Parker didn't thrill him at all, sharing a bed even less so. This night could not end well, and by the time they got to the room they were apparently going to be sleeping in together, Eliot was seething like crazy.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked Parker, exploding a little as he literally threw his bag down on the bed.

"What? I didn't do anything," she shrugged as she closed the door behind them.

Eliot paced the room like a tiger wanting to escape a cage at any cost. He was trying not to lose it with her, Parker knew that. It made her wonder herself why she acted the way she did in front of the receptionist. She could've just kept her mouth shut altogether, but suddenly she was Alice White and Eliot was her step-brother turned lover, Eric. She just kept talking, spinning out of control with her cover story the way Hardison sometimes did. This wasn't a con, she figured it was safe enough and at least it was fun for a few minutes. She might have known Eliot would be mad about it.

"Why didn't I just make you go home?" asked Eliot, though it seemed he was muttering more to himself than really talking to Parker.

When he turned around she was sat on the end of the bed with her legs pulled up under her. God only knew how she could appear so innocent and helpless when the opposite was so often true. There was no point being mad at her, Eliot knew that. She was playing around and she hadn't actually done any harm, but he didn't need the complications she caused. He just wanted to get where he was going, clear his head and make sense of things, feel better about it if he possibly could. In all kinds of ways, Parker's presence wasn't helping. He thought he could handle it, but after just one day, he was quite sure he couldn't.

"I'm gonna take a shower," he told her, opening up his bag and grabbing what he needed out of it. "You take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor," he said before he stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

Parker had opened her mouth to speak but got no chance at all, so closed it again abruptly. She wasn't helping and she knew it. She was just making Eliot all the more grumpy if that were possible. Lying back on the bed, she stared at the plain white ceiling and sighed. Even she wasn't exactly sure why she wanted to do this anymore. It seemed like a good plan, to be there for Eliot when he needed someone. So far not so good, because he was mad at her, and apparently not willing to share a bed. He shouldn't be sleeping on the floor, not that Parker really wanted to do that either, but she would.

When Eliot returned to the room twenty minutes later, in just a T-shirt and boxers with his hair still dripping some, he found Parker wrapped up in a blanket on the floor beside the bed. She had a book in her hands, and that and her head was about all of her that he could see sticking out from under her covers.

"I told you to take the bed," he sighed, not sure if she was trying to nice or a pain in the ass here.

"I'm fine," she said simply, carrying on reading without even glancing at him.

Eliot sat down on the end of the bed, pushing his hair back behind his ears with both hands. This was ridiculous. She had royally pissed him off, she was doing something nice to try and make up for it, and somehow it was him that felt like the tool. Parker was like no woman he ever met, and honestly, he was glad. Two of her in the world would be too much for any man to handle!

"Sweetheart, I ain't got time to argue with ya," he sighed, crouching down beside her.

Before Parker had a chance to realise what was happening, Eliot had one arm around her back and one under knees, picking her up blankets and all from the floor and depositing her on the bed in one fluid move. Apparently, she was getting the bed, whether she liked it or not.

"I didn't mind..." she began, scrambling to pull herself up further on the pillows.

"Doesn't matter," Eliot interrupted as he set himself up on the floor where she had just been a moment before. "Chivalry ain't dead, sweetheart. Battered and bruised maybe, but not dead," he smiled just enough to look almost genuine about it, before flipping off the lamp on that side of the bed, and settling himself down on the floor to sleep.

Parker put out the light her side too, and put her book on the nightstand. She wriggled around, moving from under the spare blanket to get under the bed's proper covers, but still wasn't comfortable. She felt bad about Eliot being on the floor, but not brave enough to ask him to join her. It was weird, because she trusted Eliot, more than she ever trusted anyone really. She knew he wasn't going to make any bad moves on her, not even if they were in the same bed together, but something stopped her ever suggesting such a thing. She didn't know why, and that bothered her even more.

"Eliot?" she whispered in the dark when another thought hit her.

"Yeah, Parker," he replied with a tired sigh.

"I thought you only slept ninety minutes a day?" she checked.

"I _can_ live on 90 minutes a day," he explained, never opening his eyes, though she wouldn't have known either way at this range and in the dark. "I don't want to, especially not with the driving and all".

"Oh," Parker replied simply. "Tomorrow, I could drive?" she suggested, and had barely got the words out when he answered too loudly.

"No!" he insisted. "Just, go to sleep, Parker, please," he urged her then.

Deciding it was best just to do as asked this time, Parker pulled Bunny up close to her and shut her eyes, trying to sleep. Eliot hoped that once she was quiet he would drift off himself, but it seemed to be impossible. He lay on the floor with one arm behind his head, not even bothering to keep his eyes closed after a few minutes.

This was crazy. He made this huge deal about needing rest and yet sleep was now eluding him, even after he heard Parker snoring softly in the bed above. Maybe tomorrow he should take her home, then start this trip over. Maybe he could get her on a bus or a train that'd take her safely back to Boston where she belonged. She sure as hell couldn't belong with him on this trip, they'd end up killing each other before it was over. Still, it remained a sweet idea she'd had in tagging along to watch his back or whatever. She was a good girl, there was no doubt about it, and the more Eliot thought on it, the funnier it became when Parker pulled that stunt in front of the receptionist - he honestly thought the poor woman's eyes were gonna roll out of her head. With a smile that eventually came to his lips at those thoughts, Eliot closed his eyes again and this time managed to drift off to sleep.

_To Be Continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So much love for all the reviews I'm receiving - thank you all so much! Now, why did Eliot & Parker need to share a room? Here's why...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 4

Eliot woke to the sound of an animal crying outside. At least that was what he thought he heard. It was almost like a hungry cat or maybe a lost possum making a kind of a whimpering sound, and yet the more awake he got the more he realised the sound was closer than he imagined, inside the room not outside. He was frowning as he picked himself up off the floor and looked over at Parker on the bed.

She was asleep still, completely dead to the world, and yet it was her making the noise that had brought Eliot out of a good night's rest. They never slept in the same room before, so the hitter wasn't sure what to make of the noise coming out of the little thief beside him. Now that he thought about it, he never saw her sleep in front of the team at all really. She started to doze and then she took herself off home, and Eliot understood that. He was just exactly the same, not willing to be vulnerable amongst other folks, even when they were the team and family he had come to put his trust in. Old habits died hard, that he knew. He figured it had to be the same for Parker.

She was twitching as she murmured now, making noises of fright and fear that Eliot wished he didn't recognise. There was a nightmare in her head, of that he was certain, but wondered whether it was best to wake her or not. In some ways, getting her out of a bad dream had to be a good thing. At the same time, Eliot was cautious. If she was afraid and then he startled her, either with yelling or worse touching her, she might lash out or just scream the damn place down. Neither was a good option, and yet watching her fear increase, seeing her thrash around with tears trying to leak out from behind her lids, in started to break the heart Eliot claimed not to have.

"Parker," he said softly, wary still as he hovered over her form lying there on the bed. "Parker, sweetheart, wake up," he urged her, a little more loudly. "It's just a bad dream, Parker, you're okay," he promised, reaching to take a hold of her arms when she thrashed around some more, fixing to injure herself badly if she was to catch her arm or worse her head on the headboard or the bedside locker.

"No!" she yelled loudly, struggling against him still as she sat bolt upright so suddenly, she clocked Eliot square in the chin with her head.

"Damnit!" he cursed, though he never let go of her, and tried not to glare when she opened wide eyes to stare at him.

It wasn't Parker's fault, she hadn't meant any harm. Hell, she'd been asleep and probably thought he was whatever monster she saw in her nightmare trying to hold her down. It made him almost sorry he had done such a thing, but he had to wake her before anything got worse. The fact she was wide-eyed and lucid now was enough to make it all worth it, including his throbbing jaw.

Parker took deep gulping breaths of air, pulling her arms free from Eliot's gasp which he let her do easily now. It was a nightmare, she knew. Just a black dream she needed to escape from and she was out so it was all okay. What bothered her was that she couldn't hide from the world and wish it away like usual. Eliot was here, Eliot had seen and heard her. He probably thought she was some sort of freak, even more than before, and if she gave into the sobs that rose in her throat, he'd think she was a coward too. Parker wouldn't show weakness, not over a dream, not in front of anyone, not even Eliot who she put her faith in so many times before. She pulled her knees up to her chest, back tight against the headboard as if she were trying to make herself so small he wouldn't see her anymore.

There was a horrible moment when Eliot actually thought she was afraid of him, that he had genuinely scared her. It was that time in the park all over again when she asked what he did for Moreau and he couldn't bear to tell her for fear she would judge him, hate him, never trust him again. Fortunately, the retreating into herself didn't seem to mean that Parker was afraid of him so much as herself when she spoke.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed, tears falling unchecked from her eyes a moment later. "Sometimes, I... I get bad dreams and..."

"It's okay," Eliot assured her, sitting down carefully on the edge of the bed, mindful of startling any more than was necessary right now. "It's okay, Parker, I promise you," he swore to her.

Whether he was saying he was okay with her having a freak out in the middle of the night, or reassuring her that what she saw in her head was far from reality, Parker couldn't be sure. All she did know was that as long as Eliot was around, she never actually got hurt, and always got out of trouble. He was the team's protector, and that included her, even now they were far away from the rest of their make-shift family.

Swallowing hard, she fought for composure, but failed miserably in the face of kindness when everything hurt so badly. She launched herself forward into Eliot's arms and held on tight, knowing that here of all places she was safe. Parker was all aware of the fact she might annoy him or at the very least startle him with her behaviour. She didn't hug, she barely touched at all, and yet in such a state as this she was like any other normal person who needed comfort.

Eliot wasn't sure what to say or do, except hold Parker close and rub her back whilst she cried. She stayed so strong in the face of danger, hardly ever broke in front of the team, but nobody could be so hard and emotionless. Parker had been through so much, foster care and living on the streets and everything. She was treated badly by many different people in her past, though she never said exactly who or what they'd done. It was clear from how badly she reacted to men that someone, probably more than one guy, had done her harm in ways Eliot didn't want to think about, and yet she trusted him. She was here in his arms, in her most vulnerable moment, scared out of her wits and the both of them half-naked. The hitter started regretting thinking about that in a moment, and went right on back to doing his best at comforting the poor sobbing woman in his embrace.

"Hey, come on," he told her, when her sobs slowed to almost nothing. "Parker, it's okay," he promised as he moved and tried to see her face.

She wiped a hand across her cheeks to clean away some of the tears, staring at Eliot with red-rimmed eyes and a forlorn expression. She felt dumb, though she had no real reason to. Everybody had nightmares, himself included, though he never told anyone about that. Maybe she could be the exception to that rule as she already was for so many others Eliot had in his life.

"It's so stupid," she sniffled, looking everywhere but at her friend. "I'm twenty nine years old and they still... I still can't handle it," she admitted, feeling so completely foolish right now.

This was never an issue anymore. She made sure she never slept in front of the team so they never saw how bad she got in the night sometimes. She hadn't really thought it through when she jumped into the back of Eliot's truck and came along for this ride. Of course they would have to sleep, she would have to let go of reality when he was there. It was doubtful she was quiet when she writhed inside a nightmare, she ought to have know he would hear and then see her cry like a child over the nightmares that ran through her head most nights.

"Hey," Eliot said softly, putting a hand to her cheek when she tried to look away again. "You think you're the only one who gets nightmares and feels bad about it?" he asked her seriously.

"I don't know," she shrugged in response.

The look in Eliot's eyes suggested he understood a whole lot better than she ever could have imagined. He probably had bad dreams too, she guessed everybody did sometimes, but hers came with such shocking regularly and were so vivid as to make her sob like a baby when she did finally wake. She couldn't imagine her hitter friend crying over such things.

"Sweetheart, some of the things I've seen, some of the things I've done"... he told her, shifting awkwardly at just having to bring it up. "I get nightmares, believe me, and I don't exactly deal with them well either," he admitted. "You're not the only one, Parker, and it _is_ normal to be freaked out by this stuff".

"Normal," Parker scoffed. "First time for everything," she muttered, at which Eliot couldn't help but raise a smile.

At least she was doing the same now, albeit the happy expression on her face was fleeting. It was only then he noticed she was still shaking, perhaps not so much out of fear now as out of cold. Picking the covers up from the bed, Eliot wrapped them around Parker's shoulders.

"You wanna get some sleep now?" he asked her but she shook her head.

"It never works," she shuddered. "I just end up back in the middle of it and I can't," she continued to shake her head in the negative as she explained, hugging herself and what appeared to be a stuffed bunny close to her chest.

Eliot didn't think he should ask what exactly Parker's dreams entailed or how much of them were based in truth. He itched to know, to find those that hurt her and beat them to a bloody pulp for causing a good person so much awful damage. Instead he chose a different tactic.

"Where'd the rabbit come from?" he asked her, actually genuinely interested in how she had come to have such a thing.

The toy certainly looked well-loved and well worn, that was for sure. Chances were good she'd had it a long time, though knowing Parker she could just as easily stolen in yesterday from a garbage can, such was the wonder of her.

"Bunny's been with me almost as long as I can remember," she shrugged. "When I didn't have anybody else, he stuck around, and even though I have the team now… I don't know, I just couldn't imagine being without him".

Eliot nodded along with what she was saying, not finding it so very starnge apparently. Lots of grown women kept teddy bears and bunnies and such, either on their beds or in their closets. It wasn't the craziest thing he ever heard from Parker, not by a long way, and her explanation made sense too. She never had people to rely on, everybody left. This Bunny as she called it couldn't go anywhere, it was the one constant in her life. It was so sweet and so very sad at the same time, Eliot wasn't sure what to say.

"More evidence that I'm crazy, huh?" Parker smiled slightly as she looked across at him in the semi-dark.

"I never said that," Eliot rolled is eyes at her assumption, as if it were completely unfair.

"It's what everybody thinks, and they're probably right," sighed Parker, snuggling further under the covers and burying her face in Bunny's ears.

It made Eliot feel guilty somehow. When he said she was crazy, when he implied there was something wrong with her, he never meant it in a malicious way. She was a sweet girl, an amazing thief, and a better person than he could ever hope to be himself. She didn't hurt people, she was just attracted to stealing shiny objects and paintings and all. In the grand scheme of things, that wasn't so bad. She may be eccentric and different, but she really shouldn't have been treated as badly as she must have been her whole life.

"Parker…" he said, reaching out a hand to her face and trying to get her to look at him. "Y'know, I'm sorry if I made you feel like you were… like there was really something wrong with you," he told her seriously. "Believe it or not, I have a lot of respect for you, for anybody who isn't afraid to be who they are and not just follow a crowd for no good reason, y'know?"

Parker nodded that she understood but she didn't say anything, she didn't know what to say. She was all aware that Eliot could be really sweet sometimes, but it didn't happen often between the two of them these days. Just lately, the terrible mood he'd been in over all the Moreau stuff, it felt as if he would never be anything but angry and sad ever again. Maybe there was hope if he could smile and be gentle like this with her now.

"Tell me a story?" she said then, surprising Eliot more than a little. "I don't mean like the Three Bears or something" she rolled her eyes, realising what that had sounded like out loud. "I'm not a kid, I just… I wanna be anywhere but here, where the nightmares were," she explained, not even sure if she was making sense right now, but hoping so.

Eliot had a hundred and one stories he could tell her, and if was going to help her get through this, then he'd do it. The trouble was picking something she would want to hear that was also something he was willing to share, whilst avoiding horses, ex-lovers, and the death of anyone or anything.

"Okay…" he said eventually, "but after this we sleep, you got that?" he said with mock-severity. "I got a lot of driving to do tomorrow".

Parker nodded her agreement and Eliot huffed out a breath.

"Right, so I was ten years old, and I'm sitting up on the kitchen counter watching my Momma make an apple pie for 4th July picnic we were gonna have…"

Parker listened with rapt attention to the tale of how Eliot first got into baking and cooking. The fact that shone through above all others was how much he loved his 'Momma' and how much she in turn loved her son. Parker might have been jealous if she thought about it that way. She didn't even know who her mother was, or her father for that matter. She'd had more foster parents than she could name or cared to try to, and though a couple of those had been reasonable maybe even loving people, it could never be the same as the real deal.

This story was followed by another that came to mind, and then Parker started to join in, speaking of the house where she had first learned to pick locks, and the boy she met on the street that educated her in boosting cars.

Stories were traded back and forth, mostly interesting, entertaining, and fun, nothing that might make anybody feel sad or teary. They laughed a lot more than either Eliot or Parker ever would have expected to in such a situation, and by the time they were done, the dawn light was peeking through the blinds and neither had gotten a wink of sleep since before midnight.

"Huh," said Parker as she looked towards the light. "For a guy that doesn't say much, you can really talk when someone gets you started," she yawned then, unable to help it.

Eliot almost laughed, until he released the time. He had a long way to drive today and so far he'd had no more than a couple of hours sleep. This was not a good day to be proving he could live on that little amount of rest, not when he was in charge of a truck on a main road, carrying an important passenger.

"I'm sorry," his companion said guiltily then, apparently knowing him well enough by now to read his unhappy expression at a glance. "You needed sleep and I kept you up all night".

There was a dirty comment on the tip of his tongue that Eliot bit down on, save for ruining everything. Parker trusted him, so much so that the woman who stabbed first thought later with almost every other guy she knew had spent last night alone on a bed with him, talking about pasts they never shared with anyone else. It was incredible if Eliot thought about it much, but right now wasn't the time.

"It's okay," he shrugged, moving to get off the bed, his body protesting as he tried to stretch it out after being cramped up too long. "We'll get a couple of hours now, then head out to find food," he considered. "Since you slept half the way here in my truck, maybe I'll make you drive the next leg," he told her.

Parker wasn't sure if he was teasing or not, especially since he all but snapped her head off yesterday for daring to suggest she would drive his most beloved vehicle. She might have asked if he was serious, but when she peered over the edge of the bed, he was already laying amongst the blankets with his back to her, trying to sleep.

The truth was, Eliot felt kind of guilty. He thought he was so hard done by, but the truth was he brought a lot of the crap in his life down on his own head. Parker hadn't asked for the hand she was dealt, nor the awful childhood she had to go through. He always thought his life was so tough, but it was nothing compared to Parker's own. If he could make her feel just a little bit better about things, he was going to do it.

Eliot was determined to be the guy Parker seemed to see him as, rather than the decidedly black figure that lived in his own head. Maybe that would prove to be more use to him in the long run, than any other part of this trip.

_To Be Continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Y'all are still with me in this fic, right? Cool, 'cause we're on the road again...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 5

Parker and Eliot were on the road again by ten a.m. Of course, he had planned to start sooner, and to be more awake by the time he got there, but that was okay. Eliot couldn't really be mad at Parker, not when her reasons for destroying his sleep pattern had not been deliberate, and borne only out of her own pain and distress.

After they both got some sleep, there was breakfast, eaten in relative silence, and then packing themselves back into the truck to continue their journey. Though she had offered to drive last night and he implied he might let her, Eliot still took the driver's seat, never mentioning any other arrangement. Parker almost protested but decided against it in the end.

Eliot seemed in a better mood since their talk last night, even though the topic of conversation hadn't started out pleasant. Maybe they had connected, that was the word Sophie used when she talked about hooking marks or even about the team bonding over the years. Yeah, Parker figured that the conversation about their pasts had connected her and Eliot in a different way to however they were before. She always figured they were team-mates, then later they were friends, but theirs had always been the most undefined relationship in the group.

Nate played father figure to all of them when he wasn't drunk, and felt more like a kid to take charge of when he was wasted. Sophie was definitely trying to be everybody's mother, even Nate's sometimes, though that would be weird, Parker considered, given how much they clearly wanted to make out! She was good friends with Hardison, he was almost like a brother, except not really because that would be squicky when they had to make out on cons.

Eliot was different. He protected Parker like a brother might, and teased her the same way too sometimes, but somehow she just couldn't file him into that box so easily. Maybe it was because she had caught herself checking out his well-built body one too many times, but it could also run deeper.

Parker never thought to over-analyse it before and it made her uncomfortable as she thought on it now. Her confusion must have showed in her face or maybe she made a noise, Parker wasn't sure, but she suddenly realised Eliot was glancing over the top of his aviators at her for just as long as he dare take his eyes off the highway.

"You okay?" he checked, and immediately Parker nodded like a reflex.

"I'm fine," she lied, hoping he wouldn't notice, but clearly he did.

"Is this about you wanting to drive?" he asked, unable to think of anything else in this moment that should've made her act so strange.

They had been travelling for the better part of an hour and a half, and so far Parker really hadn't said more than two words. She wasn't singing along to the radio or tapping her feet to the music. She hadn't fidgeted once, or asked any questions. Something was not right here, and all Eliot could think of was that she was pissed at him for not giving her the turn at the wheel she seemed to want so badly.

"What? No, I don't care," she shrugged, confusing Eliot even further. "I was just thinking... about stuff."

"Stuff?" Eliot echoed with a smirk he couldn't help. "Yeah, that's really descriptive."

Parker wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him what she was wondering about or not. Most of the time she let whatever she was thinking spill straight out of her mouth unfiltered, but this was different. This whole situation was completely different, because she and Eliot were alone and far away from where they really belonged. They had never been in such a circumstance before, and Parker never did well with change, even if she was sure when she started she was ready for it.

"It's just weird that I can talk to you and that we get along," she considered aloud, never taking her eyes off the view rushing by the window. "I mean, when we pulled the first couple of jobs, I didn't think you liked me much, and I wasn't so sure I liked you either, but we just worked well together," she shrugged. "Even though I knew all about your reputation and everything, I was never afraid of you."

Eliot wasn't sure how to answer that. It was sort of sweet and nice to think she was never afraid of him, and at the same time he knew it was as strange as she said. Parker was afraid of all men, or so it seemed, but never him. She had noticed just the same as he had that she never did flinch at his touch or cower from his arms. She trusted him enough to teach her self defence not long after they set up in Boston. She bodily threw herself into his arms on a really early job in Miami...

"I guess it's just instinct, the same as I have for cracking safes and dodging laser beams," Parker went on without him ever having answered her. "I knew you were never going to hurt me no matter how mad you got. You always seemed... safe somehow."

When Parker started to bust up laughing then, Eliot was even more confused than he had been by her confessions. He failed to see what was funny, but then Parker did laugh at the most inappropriate moments sometimes, so he wasn't exactly worried.

"Oh, that sounded so stupid!" she said eventually, holding her ribs that ached from all the laughter. "Wow, I didn't know I could be that corny," she added, leaning back in her seat at last, the moment of hilarity seemingly over.

Eliot let it go. He didn't know what to say anyway and so letting the moment drift past seemed easier somehow. It didn't change the fact he totally got what Parker meant. He trusted her from the start too, not to ever be normal or sensible about anything, but to get the job done, no matter what it took. She liked to cut things fine and run timings close, but she never, ever let the team down. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if someone got hurt because of her, Eliot knew that first hand.

The few times he had been badly beaten whilst watching her back, she had looked so sad and guilty about it. She was first in line to help him get patched up, never asking if she could help like Hardison might or trying to mother him like Sophie tended to do. Parker would just jump in, fill a bowl with warm water to clean up the blood, untangle the medical tape he was trying to use one-handed, run to the store for painkillers when the box in the bathroom ran low.

It hit Eliot then, how little gratitude he showed, mostly because he was concentrating on not bleeding to death or getting infected. More than that, he was trying not to show the fact he was in agony to those that would smother him with care if he let them. Parker cared, way more than anyone ever noticed, way more than even she probably realised, and Eliot really didn't give her enough credit.

Less than twenty four hours into this journey with her (he didn't count the first part when she was stowing away), Eliot was already realising so much about Parker that he never knew before. It bothered him that he never took the time to notice these things the past three years they spent together on Team Leverage. What bothered him even more was letting his own guards down too much in front of her.

Last night was fine, stories from his childhood were not a problem, though he kept the names and locations down to a minimum, just fixing on events that could've happened to anyone at any place or time. The truth of him, of who he was and where he came from, of what he was truly capable of, these were the things he must keep hidden from her at all costs, for both their sakes.

"I'm hungry," Parker declared in the silence that seemed to have settled in when no-one was looking.

"We ate breakfast like two hours ago," Eliot pointed out, but it made no difference, as the thief beside him produced a small bag from each inside pocket of her jacket. "Did you lift those from the motel?" he asked, glancing sideways at her.

"No?" Parker tried when she realised apparently he wasn't going to approve. "It's just chips and pretzels," she sighed when Eliot growled low in his throat.

Why did guys always have to make such a big deal out of little things? It made her think of Hardison as she made to open up the bag of pretzels and then changed her mind, throwing them onto the dash. She opened the potato chips instead and began crunching away.

Eliot tried not to notice but it was hard not to. Eyes on the road was always preferable when driving, but Parker always had been a distraction, in more ways than one. Her off-beat behaviour was not helpful when a person needed to be concentrating elsewhere.

"Eliot?" she said then. "Why does Hardison like me?"

The truck might have swerved completely off the road into a tree if Eliot was even the tiniest bit less controlled than he was. The hitter used to think he was un-freak-out-able, but that was in the days before he ever met Parker. Still, most people could not throw him off his game so easy, but once again the little thief beside him proved to be an exception to his every rule.

There were no right answers to Parker's question, of course, Eliot only wished there were. Hardison had waxed lyrical over the years about the wonder that was the blonde cat burglar, and Eliot had listened like any good friend or brother would. The trouble was that it wasn't exactly the kind of thing you wanted to repeat to the girl in question, especially when said girl was Parker.

Hardison liked Parker because he thought she was hot, because he thought she was sweet, because the idea of having a girlfriend that flexible and crazy appealed to men in unseemly ways that even a geek understood. Eliot knew he could name a hundred and one reasons for Hardison to like Parker, and yet telling her any of them seemed wrong, not least because it was not his place to be saying it.

"Didn't he ever tell you himself?" he asked, clearing his throat, really wishing this conversation would just go away, or maybe that he was on the passenger side so he could tuck and roll right out of the moving vehicle!

"Seriously?" she scoffed around a mouthful of potato chips. "I mean, yeah, he told me he likes the way I turned out, and there was that whole thing with pretzels always being there for me but... I'm not even sure I understand that the way I thought."

Eliot vaguely remembered a while back when Hardison had mentioned pretzels meaning more to him now than ever, that Parker had given him some great sign. The hitter never saw any particular evidence that things had changed between thief and hacker, and he was the expert in behavioural patterns and all. Parker was still the same Parker after Hardison's supposed breakthrough, and he was the same love sick puppy around her from that day to this.

"I mean, Hardison is great, he's like... he's like a combination of the best foster brother I ever had," she went on to explain, holding up one hand and then the other, "and... and the best partner for a con. Mostly because he'll let me get away with anything," she smirked then, a look that bordered on evil.

Eliot noticed that, could feel the expression before he ever turned his head slightly to see it and then he hated it when he did see it. He pulled the truck over into the lay by so fast that Parker's head missed the dash by an inch and the last of her chips went spilling out into the foot well.

"Dammnit Parker!" he yelled the moment the engine was off, slamming both hands against the steering wheel.

"What the hell, Eliot?!" she shouted back at him.

"I thought you were better than that, that's what!" he told her angrily, hardly able to stay in the seat he was so mad. "Hardison, he loves you, okay? He pretty much kisses the ground you frickin' walk on, and you like havin' him around because he'll let you get away with the crap nobody else will? That's low, Parker, even for people like us."

Parker's jaw worked up and down but no sound came out. She hadn't meant it like that, had she? She never meant to imply that she used Hardison for fun, that she led him on or whatever. That couldn't be what she'd been doing, they were just playing around. He liked her, sure, of course she knew that, but she never saw him that way. She never looked at Hardison the way Sophie looked at Nate, or had thoughts of happily ever after with him. Hell, Parker couldn't imagine that kind of fairytale story happening for her with anybody.

"I didn't," she choked out eventually, shocked to realise her own voice was shaking and her eyes felt suddenly damp.

Somehow in the last forty eight hours she had cried more than the past twenty years put together, at least it seemed that way. Eliot was mad at her and she was mad at herself, and it'd all come out of nowhere. How a trip that was meant to help her hitter friend had turned into her spilling her guts and making him mad all in the space of a day, Parker really wasn't sure at all, but she hated it.

Eliot felt the anger start to drain out of him the moment Parker started crying. He hated when she did that, always had and always would. Women shouldn't have reasons to cry, it was something his Daddy always said. The old man's voice in his head often made him feel guilty by reminding Eliot of such things and today was no exception.

Parker didn't understand relationships and hurting people's feelings. They all got used to the fact that even three years in she still screwed up sometimes, said some awful thing to one of them without a clue of how harmful it could be. She really could have been playing around with Hardison's heart, never knowing she was doing any harm. It wouldn't be plausible with any normal, well-adjusted woman her age, but this was twenty pounds of crazy and she had her own rules.

"You okay?" he asked her then, forearms leant on the steering wheel as he sucked in a much-needed calming breath.

Parker shook her head and turned away when he tried to look at her. It hurt, what he tried to say she had done wrong, and yet Parker knew most of the pain was borne of the fact she knew he was right. She had used Hardison, she had let him think she liked him in a way she never could, and she hardly realised she was doing it until now.

"I'm gonna tell him I'm sorry," she said so softly Eliot almost didn't hear her. "I have to tell him, don't I?" she checked, turning to look at him the simultaneously wiping her sleeve under her eyes.

"Yeah, I think you do," he nodded solemnly back at her.

She knew he was sorry for yelling, and he knew she never meant the harm she now realised she was causing. They didn't have to say anything, the moment was over. Eliot gave Parker a minute to pick up the worst of the mess she made with her chips, and when she was settled back into her seat again, he put the truck in drive and got back on the road.

The radio crackled and buzzed, needing to be retuned.

"You wanna fix that?" Eliot asked her.

Parker was smiling again as she leant forward and found the country rock station from before. Everything was fine.

_To Be Continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So maybe the previous chapter didn't go down so well, but I thought it worked *shrugs* Thank you for the feedback anyway. Here comes the next leg of the journey...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 6

Parker was pretty quiet and Eliot didn't ask why. He really shouldn't have snapped at her about the way she treated Hardison. She meant no harm and they both knew it, but she was kind of leading him on behaving that way, and Eliot couldn't have that. As much as he cared for Parker, he also cared about Hardison's feelings. They were brothers in the oddest way, and he knew the hacker liked the thief a lot. She didn't have to like him back that way, of course not, but she ought to be more careful about letting him think she did. Better for her to tell him straight out if nothing was ever going to happen between them. Allowing false hope was just cruel.

Eliot wasn't sure what it was, but he was almost relieved to hear that Parker wasn't attracted to Hardison. He never really thought she could be, not because of the hacker being a geek or anything like that, after all, they were people too. The pair did have things in common, both being foster kids, both being the younger members of the team. Still, she never did seem to favour Hardison in such a way as to make Eliot really think she liked him that much. She probably spent more time alone with Eliot himself than anyone else, now that he thought about it.

It pulled the hitter up sharp when the realisation hit him. He and Parker really did spend more time together than the rest of the team. Well, with the possible exception of Nate and Sophie. Eliot was pretty sure those two were up to all kinds of things when the rest of the team weren't around, he just didn't want to think about the details too much. Somehow it was a little too close to thinking about your parents doing it.

Eliot shuddered involuntarily, then glanced across at Parker. She was quiet still, but smiling as she watched the scenery race by outside the window. They never talked all that much, at least not until last night when they spent hours doing so. They did spend time though. He taught her self-defence, they watched TV together sometimes. She liked someone to spot her when she practised new moves or tested new harnesses and always took Eliot with her for those kinds of things. When he needed a hand patching himself up, or even with some heavy lifting, she was there. She was a lot tougher than she looked, and way more useful than the others on that kind of thing. It was strange to realise how close they were really, how right she had been when she talked about them having some inexplicable connection. It was nice though, in a weird way.

It took a moment for Eliot to remember that he didn't deserve anything nice, especially not the unbreakable friendship of someone like her. Parker was a hell of a woman. She didn't trust easy, but she trusted him, and Eliot was equal parts proud and saddened by that. It was good to know she looked up to him like she did, and put her faith in him to be there and be honest with her. On the other hand, what was she really putting her faith in? A man that barely earned the title. A person who looked for the guy he wanted to be in the mirror every morning but never could find him. He had blood on his hands, whether it was visible or not, too much of it innocent. Eliot could barely live with himself some days, especially before the team, especially right now being reminded so much of how things had been when he worked for Moreau. He didn't deserve Parker to care for him at all, and he would tell her so if he thought it'd do any good.

"I like your truck," she said all out of the blue, the same way she said most things. "It's like riding in a car but not," she considered. "It feels more like flying, or maybe that's just because you don't drive like an old lady."

Eliot smiled and shook his head. Sometimes the girl just didn't make a lick of sense. Other times it was scary how much sense he could make out of her rambling these days.

"Darlin', I ain't ever gonna figure you out." he told her, though his eyes barely left the road.

"Y'know you have a lot more accent out here, _cowboy_," she teased him, mimicking his Southern drawl as best she could, and honestly, it wasn't half bad. "Maybe it's the music," she considered. "Can I turn it up?"

"Sure." Eliot nodded, smiling a little when Johnny Cash's voice filled the truck nice and loud.

He was equal parts amused and completely confused by how easily Parker sang along. She threw her whole body into swaying in time to the music and looked to be having a great time when he glanced her way. She had yet to explain how she knew so much about country music, and Eliot didn't like to ask. It could've come from any foster home she had been in really, or any time since then. Dragging up the past tended not to be good for either of them, so the hitter let it lie. Parker on the other hand, she would just ask whatever question popped into her head and damn the consequences.

"Is that what life was like for you?" she gestured towards the radio, and the song that sung of a real old-fashioned country boy's life. "I mean, from the stories you were telling me, I guess you grew up around a farm and stuff?"

"Some of the time, yeah." he nodded, keeping his eyes on the road.

His voice wasn't just more Southern out here, Parker noticed, but softer somehow when he spoke of the past too. She wondered if this was the Eliot that existed before he became the man she knew, the one that had done unspeakable things for Moreau and then had to learn to live with them later.

"Life was... it's just different, Parker," he told her, pushing his hair back off of his face with one hand. "Unless you're from the country, it's hard for you to understand."

"I wasn't always a city girl, Eliot," she told him smartly, leaning back in her seat far enough that she could prop her feet on the dash. "You know I've been all over. I lived on a ranch for a while," she smiled.

"You, what?" he reacted immediately, not just slapping her ankles to dislodge her feet from his dashboard, but also stunned by her words. "You? _You_ lived on a ranch?" he checked, peering at her over his aviators perhaps a little too long when the road ahead curved suddenly.

"Turn," Parker instructed, pointing out of the windshield, and then got around to answering his question. "And yeah, I lived on a ranch. When I was seven or eight for like a year, I think," she explained thoughtfully, as if she wasn't quite certain of the details herself.

"But you hate animals," said Eliot, a little louder than perhaps he needed to be but shock will do that to you. "You _really_ hate horses, they scare the hell outta you. Somethin' about a horse killing a clown?"

"Oh, that was after," she waved away his words quite literally with her hand. "Before I _loved_ horses," she smiled fondly at a long ago memory. "Riding was as close to flying as I could get until I learnt to rappel..."

Eliot looked over at her as her voice faded away and her happy expression along with it. For a minute there she had looked so serene, so completely happy. Now she was sad again, looking as if something just broke behind her eyes.

"It was a long time ago," she sighed softly, looking away out of the passenger side window.

"What happened?" the question fell from Eliot's lips without him really thinking about it.

The man of few words, most of which were usually well chosen, knew he had screwed up before he even finished the question. You didn't ask damaged people about their past, he ought to know that better than anyone. When Parker asked him what happened with Moreau, he told her never to ask again because telling her the truth might've broken them both. Asking Parker what went wrong with some perfect dream home when she was young, it came down to the same thing. Immediately, Eliot opened his mouth to take it back, to say he was sorry, but he never got the chance.

"I need a soda to wash down my snacks, and a bathroom break," she said, screwing up the packaging from her pretzels and chips, making a crinkling sound. "Is there a gas station up ahead?"

"Er, yeah," Eliot nodded some. "Justa couple o' miles," he assured her, knowing he had seen a sign not so long ago.

Parker muttered something that might've been 'good' or 'thanks'. Eliot didn't ask her to repeat it because it didn't matter. Honestly, he was just glad they had moved past the awkward moment when he asked such a stupid question. Probably better to let it go for now, just as she had with him in the park that faithful day. Picking at old scabs did way more harm than good, that was for sure.

* * *

Parker leant against the truck, spinning her cell phone around in her hand. Eliot had made sure she switched it off before they arrived at the gas station, and when she got it out to do so she found three missed calls and five text messages. All the alerts had Hardion's name beside them, and that just stirred up a nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach that she rarely ever had to deal with - guilt.

Eliot had been right before, about the way she treated Hardison. She did use him and it was wrong, she just hadn't known what else to do when he made it increasingly obvious that he had some kind of feelings for her. Parker guessed it was just a novelty for her, to have a guy genuinely like her that way and be so sweet about it. Men liked her for her looks, she knew, and most ended up stabbed with forks or with their fingers broken for daring to put the moves on her.

Hardison genuinely cared. He wanted to buy her gifts and take her places. Parker didn't really want the items he would buy her or to go to the places he suggested, unless it was to steal something. She just liked that he liked her, that she was normal enough so anybody could.

Of course, that didn't change the fact that was she was doing was wrong. Letting Hardison think there was more between them than friendship, that she would ever really want to date him, it was mean. A part of her always knew that, and yet, she carried on, just thinking it would all be okay. She saw now, more than ever, that it wouldn't.

What confused Parker was exactly how she was supposed to stop and to apologise for what she had done. She couldn't dump Hardison because she wasn't dating him. If she tried to explain to him what she had done, what she was feeling, well, that wasn't even clear enough to Parker in her own head, and verbalising stuff wasn't exactly her strong suit.

There was nothing she could do about it now, she knew. Cell phones were a no-no until they got out of the gas station, and there was no way she wanted to talk this out with Hardison when Eliot was sat beside her in the truck. She shoved the phone into her pocket and looked across at the building where the hitter had disappeared more than ten minutes ago. He only went to pay for gas and pick up a couple of bottles of water. That took two minutes tops and Parker had expected him to beat her back to the truck whilst she ran around back of the building to use the rest room. No such luck. It looked as if he was flirting with the girl behind the cash desk, and Parker found herself growling with frustration when she spotted the situation.

If Eliot had heard her, he might have been surprised. As it was, he wasn't actually being particularly flirty with this chick anyway. She was doing all the running, making a big deal about ringing up his meagre purchases and getting him his change. Eliot didn't like to be rude, especially not to women, even when they weren't his type exactly. He smiled politely, thanked her for her compliments, and tried desperately to get out of the door, until he realised she had slipped a piece of paper with her number on into his hand with his change.

"You should have this back, darlin'," he told her, handing said piece of paper over. "I'm flattered and all, I am," he assured her, "but I don't think my girlfriend would be impressed," he explained, jerking his thumb towards the window and Parker who could clearly be seen through it.

She looked mad, which worked well for the bit, but honestly, Eliot just thought she was pissed he was taking so long. Rolling his eyes, he strolled out into the fresh air again and wandered over, contemplating the woman leaning on his truck as he did so. In her jeans and boots, he could picture her as a country girl pretty easily right now. Riding a horse was a stretch, but she'd look good doing it, Eliot was sure. He had to admit, if only inside his own head, Parker looked pretty good doing almost anything.

"Here," he said when he got close, tossing a bottle of water into her hands.

"Thanks" she replied. "Are you gonna sleep with that girl?" she asked straight out before she took a swig of her drink.

Eliot already had a mouthful of his and managed to spray it all over the concrete at the sound of her words.

"Damnit, Parker!" he complained, wiping the back of his hand across his wet chin. "Why'd you think it's okay to ask stuff like that?" he asked her, only to have her shrug in response.

"You sleep with a lot of girls, and I know she likes you," she pointed out. "I'm not great at reading people, but even I was getting the 'take me to bed' vibe from out here."

Eliot said nothing. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't deny the charge that he had a lot of notches on his bedpost. On the other hand, it wasn't Parker's place to judge him on that or even to conduct an in-depth interview about it. Eliot was just all kinds of uncomfortable talking to Parker about sex, and so the conversation ended right here.

"Catch," he said simply, tossing his keys into her hands.

Despite the fact she was holding her water bottle and hadn't been ready, she still caught them without the slightest fumble. Yep, she was just that good.

"I'm driving?" she asked, completely distracted by the shiny keys and the prospect of being in charge of the truck.

Eliot was honestly just glad to get her off the topic of his sex life.

"You're driving," he confirmed with a single nod. "But Parker, you drive this truck like a normal person, you hear me?" he told her firmly, glaring over the top of his shades so she knew he meant business. "Any getaway car stuff or close calls with my baby, and that's it, you're not just not driving anymore, your ass is walking all the way back to Boston," he warned her, making a walking gesture with two fingers to impress his point upon her.

"Yes, sir," Parker over-did the compliance with a mock salute and a serious expression that fell into another grin within a second.

Eliot just sighed and rolled his eyes as the pair of them climbed into the truck and strapped in. Honestly, he had to wonder which one of them was really more crazy at this point. Eliot was seriously starting to doubt that it was Parker.

_To Be Continued..._


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So, now I'm getting into writing the pasts of these characters who don't have much of one on the show. Since I haven't seen Season 5 yet, I hope nothing was said in there to make what I've written incorrect or impossible. From the four seasons I've seen, I think I'm good. Oh, and if you catch the small obscure inside-joke in this chapter, you get a cookie! (Poestheblackcat, if anyone gets it, it'll probably be you! lol)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 7

Eliot had started to relax into the passenger seat of the truck after the first half hour or so. As it turned out, Parker could drive like a proper human being when she was told to. Whilst he was sure she preferred racing down the highway like a bat out of hell, that kind of getaway driving was strictly prohibited in his truck. True to her promise, she hadn't even tried to go over the limit of the road, and once Eliot realised she meant what she said, he found he could just let her get on with taking them to their next pitstop.

There was no real plan for where they had to be tonight, but the hitter preferred to get to a town before dark. By himself, he wouldn't have cared so much, but with Parker on this journey, well, he wasn't taking any chances with the young woman he cared so much for. He didn't tell her any of this, of course. Parker could take care of herself, and didn't like anyone thinking otherwise. That didn't mean Eliot didn't want to look out for her and play protector. Saying so would probably make him sound like a chick anyway, so he kept his mouth shut, his arms folded, and his eyes on either the map in front of him or the road ahead.

They headed on down the i75, the radio playing the same country station they'd had on since this adventure began. It was never supposed to be a team road trip or anything, just a getaway for Eliot to clear his head, get his mind straight after all that crap with Moreau. It was strange to realise he hadn't given the crime lord much thought in the last twenty four hours, and he had Parker to thank for that. It seemed almost stupid now that he had walked away from the team like he had, when apparently all he needed was right there in Boston, wearing blonde hair and a bright smile.

"You're staring again," said the very woman in question, though her eyes never left the road. "Smiling not growling, so my driving isn't the problem."

"You're doin' just fine, darlin'," he assured her, pushing his face back into some kind of neutral expression. "And I wasn't starin', just looking," he told her, as if he was annoyed.

Parker shrugged it off like no big deal because it really wasn't anyway. She was only too pleased to be allowed to drive. Watching the view go by and bopping along to the music from the radio was all well and good, but this was fun, being in control as they tore up the highway. Sure, she had to stick to the speed limit and not pull any getaway driver moves, but it was still cool. She liked Eliot's truck, just as she had told him before. It felt like it was going fast even when it wasn't and somehow it was just so very Eliot. It was comforting and exciting all at the same time, like the man himself.

"Take the next exit on the left," he told her, consutling the map on the dash. "Then follow the signs into Covington. We can hole up there for the night."

The sun was beginning to set and Parker knew he really wanted them off the road by then. She didn't take offence. Eliot hadn't wanted to drive too much in the dark himself, though she didn't question why. Sometimes when she asked questions he got all grumpy and right now she didn't want that. They were getting along so well on this trip, when he wasn't telling her where she was screwing up with Hardison. That still needed dealing with, but Parker chose to put it on the back burner for now. She had to think how to do it, what to say, and though she had been trying for the past God only knew how many miles, she'd gotten nowhere. Thinking too hard like that just gave her a headache and that was no good for her driving, so she let it go, just for a little while.

Beside her, Eliot was getting blinded by the setting sun just as soon as they took the exit and headed straight into the western sky. Even with his aviators on, it was too damn bright, and he squinted his eyes against the light. The cool breeze, the hum of the music, the rhythmic sounds of the engine and all, it made him want to close his eyes anyhow. Eliot didn't sleep in front of people, he never relaxed when he wasn't completely in control of a situation. It was realising this that startled him awake again the moment he began to drift.

"You okay?" asked his driver when he suddenly seemed to sit to attention for no reason she could guess.

"Fine," he snapped without really meaning to, immediately regretting it.

No more was said then, as Parker just carried on concentrating on the road, the traffic just a little heavier as they headed into town. The only time Eliot spoke was to point out signs for a parking garage. The thief didn't even answer, just nodded her head and did as she was asked.

Eliot felt at least a little bad. He seemed unable to help himself when it came to just giving himself reason upon reason to feel guilty lately. Parker meant no harm, in fact she was only asking him if he was alright. She just had this need to poke bruises on him, whether they were physical or mental. He wonders sometimes if she even knew she was causing pain at all.

The truth was the only reason he snapped in the first place was because his own thoughts had jarred him awake in a state of shock. He trusted Parker. Of course he knew that already else he could never go on jobs with her, but it was how far that trust extended that bothered him. He always thought she had much more faith in him than he could ever find for her, and yet here he was falling asleep whilst she was driving him around in what was essentially the middle of nowhere. So much for telling her she was crazy or similar. Eliot wondered if maybe there was actually something wrong with _him_ instead.

"So, this is Kentucky now," said Parker as she stopped at a red light. "This your home state, right?" she checked.

"No," he answered like a reflex, wondering if she might be digging into where they were going.

Maybe she thought she knew or was just poking around for more clues to figure it out. Eliot reconsidered that in a moment, reminding himself that this was Parker. The question she asked was the only one she was looking for an answer to. She wasn't shy about asking just exactly what she wanted to know.

"I was born in Texas, raised in Oklahoma 'til I was thirteen, then we moved to Kentucky," he explained succinctly. "Light's green," he pointed out right after, noticing Parker's eyes were on him now and not on the road.

She looked almost confused by his answer, though he couldn't see why. He had just named Southern states, and she already knew he was from that area. Plus she had been there when he saw Aimee again, heard the limited history he was willing to share about his time in Kentucky. Her confusion in turn puzzled him.

"Why'd you wanna know where I'm from anyway?" he asked her, knowing he was not about to ask the same question of her.

There was a chance Parker wouldn't even know where she was born, and she was raised all over, as far as he knew. The childhood portion of her past was a whole lot murkier than his has been, no matter how dirt poor his folks were when he was growing up.

"I don't know," she shrugged then, checking the traffic and then pulling out across the next intersection. "I have no idea where I was born exactly," she confirmed what Eliot had already been assuming.

It made his heart clench when she told him stuff like that. She really had a crappy start in life and not a part of it was her own fault. It made Eliot feel all the more guilty for screwing up the half decent start he'd been given, becoming a man that could barely stand to look in the mirror anymore. Parker turned her life around. Sure she was a thief, and technically that was bad, but she didn't blame the world for what she'd been through. She embraced life, and maintained a good heart inside her awkwardly unsociable shell.

"It ain't where you're at, it's where you're headed," he said more to himself than to her.

There was a smirk on his lips when Eliot realised he actually spoke aloud and Parker was looking sideways at him like he was the crazy one.

"It's an expression," he confirmed, in case she didn't get it. "Where you're from doesn't really matter, Parker. Not the place or the people. It's what you're doing now, how you turned out," he said, as she swung them into the parking garage and pulled into a spot. "Hey," said Eliot, reaching to touch her hand on the handbrake. "You turned out just fine, darlin'. Crazy as hell, but just fine," he promised with a genuine smile.

Parker sort of giggled in an almost cute way, and though the multi-storey was dimly lit, Eliot was pretty sure she blushed too. It was only then that he noticed he still had a hold of her hand, and that was no good. Letting her fingers go, he cleared his throat and pushed his hair back off his face, before the pair of them exited the truck.

"We can eat now, right?" she asked as Eliot grabbed his bag of essentials and encouraged Parker to do the same. "I'm starved."

"You are always hungry," he shook his head as he double-checked his vehicle was locked up tight. "I swear, I don't know where you put all that crap you eat."

As if taking his words as a challenge, Parker wasted no time in ordering enough food for at least two people the moment they got into the restaurant down the street. Eliot didn't say a word, it was none of his business anyway. He checked the menu and gave his own order to the pretty waitress, sparing her a wink and watching her backside as she walked away.

Parker wasn't sure why it bothered her when Eliot got that look on his face over women. Sophie always said it was degrading and stuff when men looked at women like pieces of meat. Parker wasn't sure she agreed with that exactly, she just liked it better when she didn't have to watch Eliot looking at girls like that. She didn't have a proper reason, at least she was pretty sure she didn't.

"What?" he asked when he noticed her scowling and physically biting her lip.

"Nothing," she shrugged, playing with the salt and pepper shakers for something else to do.

"There is something," Eliot knew, sure of it most especially now because she wouldn't actually look at him.

So much for Parker always saying just exactly what was on her mind. Of course, Eliot didn't realise the reason she wasn't telling him what was up was because he himself had asked her not to before. There were topics that were out of bounds with all people, but Parker did appreciate the fact that at least Eliot bothered to tell her what those subjects were. Now she had been caught out and didn't know what to say, even with him.

"You told me not to ask about you and girls," she reminded him, balancing the pepper on top of the salt and then reaching for the sugar cannister to add to her structure.

Eliot put his hand on her wrist and stopped her with a firm shake of his head. Not that he doubted she could pull it off, he just didn't want to risk it right now. They could use drawing as little attention to themselves as possible, just in case.

"I said that for a reason," Eliot reminded Parker as she finally left the condiments alone and sat back in her seat with a huff. "Do I ask you about guys?" he said, as if that were explanation enough.

"No," she agreed, "but I wouldn't care," she shrugged easily as the waitress came and served them their food. "There's not much to tell," she continued, as the other young woman walked away and the hitter prepared to eat. "I've only ever had sex with two guys."

Eliot's fork stilled half way to his mouth at that remark. He was only glad he hadn't actually got the food in there before Parker's revelation. She didn't seem phased by the secret she shared, either the telling of it or the actual admission itself. Honestly, Eliot didn't know whether to ask her to explain or just let it go. In the end, he just couldn't help himself and allowed his curiosity out just a little.

"Seriously?" he checked. "Two guys?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded in response, her mouth full of chicken at the time.

Parker wasn't sure if she was really supposed to tell Eliot details of her sexual encounters. The rest of the team seemed to think those were not the kinds of things you shared, but here was Eliot asking her, so that had to make it okay.

"When I was seventeen, there was this guy I met on the street," she explained. "We were both running from something, and I guess we were kind of friends... I think his name was Jake... Jay? Meh, it started with J anyway," she shrugged, as if it were no big deal.

Eliot couldn't concentrate on his food. He honestly couldn't believe what he was hearing here. Parker was undoubtedly hot, so many men must've found her attractive. Of course she was kind of weird about touching in general, which would explain her lack of sexual encounters. Still, not remembering the name of the person you had your first time with? That was weird even for Parker. Hell, all the women Eliot had taken to bed and he still remembered his first time as clearly as anything, and it wasn't actually Aimee.

"Second guy was on this crew I ran with for a while," Parker went on, without a care in the world as she ripped into her bread roll. "We got done with this crazy heist, and I was so wired," she grinned as she recalled it. "There were just no tall buildings in that town, so me and Chris had sex instead," she explained, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of her roll then. "It wasn't the same," she sighed, clearly disappointed.

Eliot still hadn't figured out he was supposed to respond to this. Parker didn't talk about sex like it meant anything, or even like she had a good time doing it. If anyone else was saying all this stuff it would seem totally off the wall, but this was Parker and he was getting used to her kind of crazy... almost.

"Parker..." he said, leaning closer to her across the table and encouraging her to do the same. "You, er... I mean, no guy ever tried to... when you didn't want to?" he asked, awkward as she'd ever seen anyone.

Still, the little thief's response was a snort of almost-laughter that could not be helped.

"Please! Like I'd let anybody make me do that," she told him definitely, though there was a darkness behind her laughing eyes that bothered the hitter more than a little.

"That's good," he nodded once, meeting her gaze. "'Cause, darlin', if I found out anybody ever did that to you, even tried to, I'd... I'd kill 'em," he admitted, so very seriously.

"I know," she smiled, nodding easily, and then went right on back to her food.

With that said, Eliot felt he might just be able to eat too. They didn't need to talk anymore right now.

_To Be Continued..._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I hope this story continues to be as popular as it has been so far. There's some bumps in the road coming along soon, just so you know...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 8

Eliot and Parker walked out of the restaurant, both with their overnight bags slung over their shoulders. She had asked how he was so okay with leaving all his most important belongings in the truck but there was a simple answer to that. Eliot trusted no-one, expect maybe the team. His truck had alarms and protection enough, he told her. Parker immediately started asking about blades that shot out of the sides or an electric current like her taser running around the entire chassis. Eliot would neither confirm nor deny her theories, but couldn't help from smirking as he turned away from her then.

They headed back down the street towards a hotel they passed on the way into town. It looked like a decent enough place that wouldn't charge the Earth for a night's rest. Eliot moved to open the door for Parker like a gentleman might, but stopped short of doing so at the last. She looked at him strangely, waiting for an explanation that took a while in coming.

"When we get in there, no pulling that crap from the other place," he warned her. "We ain't brother and sister or lovers on the run or whatever other story you got spinning around in your crazy head, okay?"

"Fine," she huffed like it was a real inconvenience to not drive him nuts. "But we at least have to have names."

"Fine," he echoed both the word and her tone, looking around to check no-one was listening. "Pick one of your aliases, any one, it doesn't matter."

"I like Rose," she admitted with a shrug. "Y'know, when I went to the rehab place. That was fun," she grinned then, eyes sparkling.

Eliot tried to look annoyed but remembering how giddy she looked when she ran out of that place and just leapt into his arms, it made him wanna smile even now. He shook it off within a second.

"Okay, we'll simple it up," he told her, moving out of the way of the doors when he realised he was blocking the route for others. "You're Rose, I'm Mark, and we're just friends taking a trip together," he said simply, picking his alias from the same job to make things simpler.

It was all two parts truth, one part lie, which made it easier to keep straight. Plus, Eliot was ensuring Parker couldn't change things up last minute and stick them in a double room again. That had been awkward enough the first time, even if it had worked out for the best. It only occurred to Eliot when they reached the desk that having Parker in a separate room when she was so prone to nightmares and all was probably not the best plan.

"Hey", Parker smiled overly much at the male receptionist. "Um, I'm Rose, this is Mark," she gestured. "We're friends on a trip and we need rooms for tonight."

"Okay then, that's two singles," the young man with the badge that said 'Blake' stated back what he assumed he was being asked for, typing away on his computer.

Parker was immediately distracted by the display of brochures on the counter and then by a painting on the wall. Eliot watched her wander away and then leant over the desk some to speak quietly to Blake.

"Er, you got one of those... y'know, two rooms with the bathroom in-between?" he asked, making a vague gesture with his hand.

"Jack and Jill rooms? Certainly, sir," nodded the receptionist as he altered his search.

Before long he was giving Eliot the price and asking for names to log onto the system. Getting out his cash, he declared himself Mark Baker, and stumbled on Parker's alias. He wasn't sure he ever knew Rose's last name on that job, and if he had known it then he certainly didn't recall now. Calling the thief over to ask would seem crazy when she was supposed to be his friend.

"And Rose, er..." he floundered a moment. "Wilder. Rose Wilder," he said eventually, wincing the moment Blake turned away.

Thankfully, either the guy didn't notice his dumb mistake, didn't understand it, or just thought it was all a cute coincidence. Whatever the real reason, Blake said not a word, just took Eliot's cash and handed over two keycards.

"Enjoy your stay," he said politely, watching with mild amusement as 'Mark Baker' went and retrieved his friend from her wandering and encouraged her towards the elevators.

"If anybody asks, your last name is Wilder," Eliot whispered across to Parker as they waited. "I know it's dumb but I panicked, okay?"

"Why is it dumb?" she asked in earnest. "I think it's pretty."

"It's not... I mean..." Eliot got stuck for words for the second time in five minutes as the elevator arrived and he followed Parker into it. "You're seriously telling me you never read a Little House book or saw the TV show?"

"What little house? Where?" she asked him, but the hitter only shook his head.

"Doesn't matter," he assured her, hitting the button for the fifth floor.

It was crazy to Eliot how Parker could still surprise him after all this time, but she really could. After more than three years working together, getting to know each other better, and today was still one revelation after another. So she never saw one of America's best known TV shows or read the books that he was pretty sure every child, especially the girls, had been through in their youth. That was nothing compared to what she had been telling him earlier.

Parker wasn't a virgin, Eliot had been pretty sure on that. Despite how skittish she was with most men, he always assumed it was because something bad happened to her somewhere along the line. She was always okay when she felt in control, that's how he saw it, and he just thought there had been men in her life that she'd slept with. Apparently there were, but only two, the first of which she wasn't even totally clear on his name.

It was a relief to know she hadn't been used and abused in that way. Eliot hadn't liked asking her about it but felt he had to in the moment when he had the chance. He meant what he said about killing any piece of scum that had laid their hands on her too, even if it turned out there was no list to work through, not even one target to kill, crush, destroy.

The elevator came to a juddering halt at the third floor, and a couple stepped in, the guy much older than his apparent girlfriend. Eliot wanted to tell Parker not to stare when he realised her eyes were on stalks. The girl in front of them, all high heels and short skirt, was either being paid for her time or looking to make a fortune off a sugar daddy. The old guy didn't seem to be complaining either way, that was for sure.

As the car stopped at the fifth floor and the doors slid open, Parker continued to stare at the odd couple walking out in front of her and Eliot.

"That's weird, right?" she asked, leaning towards the hitter, though her eyes never left the canoodling pair.

"Not really," he confirmed, shifting his bag higher on his shoulder. "That kinda thing happens a lot more often than you think."

Parker frowned some, making Eliot wonder if she understood the situation of the two that had now disappeared into a room down the hall, hands everywhere before they ever made it in through the door. He didn't really want to explain to her. There had already been more talk of sex between them in the last twenty four hours than Eliot was really comfortable with. Unfortunately, he wasn't getting much choice in the matter it seemed.

"So, do you think I'm a freak now?" asked Parker as they walked down the hall. "Y'know, because I only had sex twice?"

Eliot handed her the keycard for her room and gestured to the door a little way down from the one they had stopped outside of now.

"The rooms are joined together by the bathroom," he told her, as if he never heard her question at all. "If you need anything, come through, okay?"

Parker nodded that she understood, knowing from the look he gave her that he was thinking of her nightmares before. She appreciated the sentiment, she really did, but that wasn't the point.

"You didn't answer my question," she noted, at which Eliot sighed.

"No, Parker, you're not a freak," he assured her. "Don't ever think that."

It was strange for him to be the one saying this to her. After all, he was usually the first to tell her there was something wrong with her or call her crazy. Eliot meant no harm of course, and it hadn't taken long for him to realise that any quirks in Parker's character were pretty harmless, mostly amusing, and sometimes down right adorable. The last thing Eliot would want was for the thief to really believe she was abnormal in a bad way. The smile on her face told him she was glad of his kind words now and took them as intended.

"Good night, Mark," she winked in an over-the-top way as she opened up her door and slipped inside.

"Night, Rose," he replied with a smile as he followed suit.

Once inside his room, Eliot tossed his bag on the bed and sighed. This trip was exactly nothing like he planned, though he couldn't really say it was any better or worse for Parker's presence. She was determined to stick with him, and she was behaving like a normal person most of the time which was a good thing. The sex revelation was still blowing his mind a little bit, but that had to be understandable.

Whatever else Parker was or wasn't, she was most definitely hot. He'd have to be blind not to notice, and the hitter most certainly was not that, especially where women were concerned. Nobody ever tried it with Parker when she didn't want to go that far, and she'd only gone willingly with two guys, once each. It was weird, but in a lot of ways it was sweet really. For a thief, Eliot had always thought Parker was oddly innocent, and now he realised maybe she was in a few ways at least.

It put even more of a ravine between the two sides they existed on. The two of them could stand together on the team, as friends even, but the truth was they were so very different. Parker still had that innocence in her, even if it was only in small ways. Eliot had blood on his hands and a darkness in his heart that she could never understand, and he hoped she never did. Of course, all this just got Eliot to thinking on why he was out here in the first place, half way across the country with a way to go yet.

Looking at the bed, he considered things and decided he wanted to shower before he turned in. Riding along in the truck with the windows down was fine until you realised how much dust and fumes floated in. Eliot stripped down to his underwear, pulled out a towel and his wash-bag, and headed on into the bathroom. He locked Parker's door from the inside before getting into the shower. Washing away real dirt and grime was easy, but nothing could wash away his past or flush out all the busy thoughts in his head.

As if it weren't bad enough being reminded how far removed he was from the innocence of his road trip buddy, Eliot also had to have this revelation in Kentucky of all places. Aimee was here, not in this town, but within easy driving distance suddenly. He wouldn't go see her, not even if he didn't have Parker to baby-sit on this journey. They parted ways after the job with her Daddy's horses and this time it had to be for good. As much as he had loved her, as much as a part of him always would, that ship had sailed and Eliot knew it. He had a new life and a new family now, at least he thought he had.

When Moreau had to be dealt with, Eliot let himself back-slide into a darker pocket of his past, and though he had hoped a little time away would help him get some perspective and deal with it, so far it hadn't really done much good. He couldn't blame Parker, the woman was just trying to help after all. She cared about him, even though Eliot knew he didn't deserve it. He had no right to be loved, not by anybody, especially when they had even a vague idea of what he was capable of. Yet Parker was here, she was... _literally_ here in the room, Eliot realised, with shock and anger.

"Damnit, Parker!" he complained as the shower ran too hot when she turned on the tap at the basin.

"What?" she replied, her voice sounding weird.

Eliot pulled the curtain back a little to peer around it and realised why. Parker had her toothbrush jammed in her mouth and had obviously put on the tap just briefly when she spat. Not that it really mattered what she was doing, she just shouldn't be in here right now.

"Get out," he ground out, but the little thief remained unmoved as she looked at him via the reflection of the mirror. "How'd you even get in here?"

"Hello, lock picker! And I'm not leaving because I'm brushing my teeth," she pointed out, words garbled by the brush still. "Why does it matter?"

"Because I'm taking a shower!" he stated the obvious since she didn't seem to be getting it on her own. "I don't want you in here when I'm naked!"

Parker giggled at that, spitting and rinsing before she actually answered him.

"What's the big deal?" she snorted then, turning around to face him and causing Eliot to duck a little further behind the shower curtain just in case. "I've seen most of you naked already, and this is a bathroom. People get naked in bathrooms for showering and bathing, not for, like, sex or anything."

Parker's face was a picture when she met Eliot's eyes. It was only then that the hitter realised she seriously didn't understand.

"Oh," she said, her mouth hanging open a moment. "Seriously? You can do that?" she asked, apparently thinking about it altogether too much, head tilting to the side as she stared at him.

"We're not having this conversation, Parker," Eliot growled, already uncomfortable about standing here naked and dripping wet not five feet from her.

The fact she was now thinking about sex, and in a shower no less, he really couldn't handle this at all.

"It's not like it's my fault I didn't know," said Parker too fast, looking suddenly awkward as her eyes darted to the door and back. "Two guys, remember, and they were both in bedrooms," she muttered. "I can't help that I'm weird."

She ran then, as Eliot knew she would somehow. The trouble was, a much as he'd been hoping she'd leave already, he didn't want it to be at top speed with a look of pain on her face. That really wasn't the plan at all.

"Damnit," he grumbled as he got out of the shower, wrapping a towel tight around his waist.

Maybe it ought to have occurred to him to get dressed first, but he was too worried about Parker. Running to her room would be fine, but knowing her she'd be out of the building before he could blink if the fit took her. This was a woman who jumped off buildings for fun, could happily sleep in an elevator shaft. The same person who hid in the back of his truck for hours just so he wouldn't leave and not come back.

"Parker," he breathed a sigh of relief as he went into her room and found her in the window seat, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Just leave me alone, Eliot," she told him. "I don't care what you think."

She wanted it to be true, he was sure, but clearly it wasn't. Parker always acted like nobody else's opinion mattered, but the team was different. For all of them, the opinions of their new family did have an effect on them. She truly believed Eliot thought she was some kind of freak right now, that was why Parker was upset. She was embarrassed to have let out details of her past that had changed his opinion of her for the worst, at least that seemed to be what she thought.

"Sweetheart, you're not weird," he promised her, coming to sit down beside her, mindful of keeping the towel straight and covering everything it should. "Honestly, it's a good thing that you don't... that you don't just sleep with anybody that comes along," he told her.

"Why?" she asked, turning from the glass to look at him. "That's what you do."

"That's different," he cut in immediately.

"Why?" she pressed, like a small child who wouldn't give up.

Eliot pushed his wet hair off his face, turning away from her.

"It just is," he replied lamely, getting up to go - this had not been a good idea.

"But why?" Parker tried again, just a little startled when he exploded at her without ever turning her way.

"Because you can still find your happy ending!" he all but yelled over his shoulder, back to a normal even tone in a moment. "It's way too late for me," he added, as he walked away.

"Because of Moreau?"

Her words stuck him to the spot, halfway between the window and the bathroom door. Eliot just stood there, dripping all over the carpet, wishing he could pretend he hadn't heard her. He couldn't. At this range, with his highly honed senses, there was no way to deny it, and he couldn't bear to have her repeat the question. He had to give her some kind of answer, whether he liked it or not.

"Parker..." he began as he looked back at her, hating that they were all but reliving that moment in the park a couple of weeks ago.

"Love is more than that," she insisted, "isn't it? A person that loves you is supposed to forgive anything, _everything_," she said definitely, like a small child, seeing the world in simple terms that she ought to know didn't apply in their world, in any part of life. "If _I_ loved someone, I would..."

"Parker," he cut her off, afraid of what she might say or even imply right now, though he'd never admit it. "Please. Go to bed," he urged her, his hand covering part of his face by now. "Just go to bed, and let me do the same," he said, turning away and striding through to the bathroom then.

Parker watched him go, didn't even jump when the door slammed shut with a thud. What did surprise her was the drop of water she felt slide down her cheek the very next moment.

_To Be Continued..._


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So appreciating all the feedback on this story - thank you all so much! :)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 9

Parker didn't want to sleep. Actually that wasn't true, she _did_ want to sleep but she couldn't, not right now. There was a conversation she had to have with Hardison, and after so much thought she still wasn't sure how to begin. She knew it was necessary, Eliot had made that very clear to her, and she definitely saw his point. Still, she had to wonder, how she was meant to break up with a person she wasn't really dating.

Sophie was good at getting people to see, to understand, without having to say just exactly what she meant. Parker wasn't made that way. She had a habit of blurting out the truth because it was all she really had. After so many years with the team, she learnt that sometimes that wasn't a good thing, because other people got hurt.

Lying back on the bed, still fully clothed, Parker was contemplating her cell when it suddenly rang. Her eyes were wide as anything when she saw Hardison's name on the screen. She immediately answered.

"How'd you know I was going to call you?" she asked, no greeting or pleasantries at all, just the question she wanted answered.

"Hello to you too, mama," the hacker said in her ear. "I didn't know you were gonna call, but I gotta say I'm glad to hear it. 'S been a couple of days, Parker, I left you all these messages..."

"I'm with Eliot," she cut in fast, somehow hoping it was the right thing.

"Oh, okay. That's cool," he replied, a little startled by the revelation. "Er, y'know, if you two was pulling a job or whatever, I coulda been a part o' that. I thought Eliot wanted to be alone..."

"Hardison?" Parker interrupted once again, eyes closed and expression pained even though nobody could see her. "I... I have to tell you something," she forced out, no other words seemingly forthcoming after that.

Hardison waited a long time for her to say more, and when she didn't, he started to worry,

"Parker? Y'know, girl, you can tell me anything. It's cool. We always cool," he promised.

Honestly, Parker couldn't understand how that seemed to make this harder, and yet it did. She liked that she could talk to Hardison, she really did. He was such a good friend, and she couldn't bear the idea of things between them getting weird. At the same time, she knew she didn't want the same things he did. She had no desire to be his girlfriend, or anyone else's girlfriend right now. That didn't make her a freak or anything, she knew that, but if she ever was going to find that happily ever after Eliot talked about some day, she had to figure this out first.

"I like being me," she said eventually. "I like being on the team, and I love that we're friends, you and me, but I can't... I don't want to be anything else."

There was a long pause in which one of Parker's eyes popped open. She wasn't sure what she thought she might see or hear as a result, but then crazy was her default setting, and this was such an odd situation for her.

"Er, Parker? Is this like a conversation about... pretzels?" he asked awkwardly.

"Yes!" she replied fast and with some sense of triumph as she sat herself up and crossed her legs. "I just, I like the pretzels a lot, but I think I've relied too much on them being there when I don't... I don't really want to eat them all the time, or at all, that way..."

She was screwing it up, Parker was sure she was, but this was all she had. She had one shot to say all this and only one way to get it out. Hardison was the pretzels, or their possible relationship was the pretzels? Either way, she was pretty sure she just made it clear she didn't want what he was offering her, and she hoped to God he got it, without being too hurt.

"Oh," said Hardison after a while. "Um, right. So, you and me, that's... Okay then."

He was rambling and muttering, Parker could hear him, even after he seemed to be trying to whisper or moved the phone away from his face. That was rarely a good sign, but at least it meant he had heard her and hopefully understood.

"I'm sorry," she told him, the apology a rare thing from her lips but heartfelt as anything she ever said her whole life. "Hardison, I never meant to do anything bad, I really didn't."

"Hey, no. It's cool," he promised her, though his tone was pained at best. "You don't got the feelings I do then you don't. Hey, I gotta go, er, somebody on the other line and... I'll talk to you soon Parker, okay?"

"Okay," she replied just in time before the line went dead.

* * *

Eliot didn't want to sleep. Actually that wasn't true, he did want to sleep but he couldn't, not right now. The conversation he had with Parker kept replaying in his head, most especially that last part when she brought up Moreau. It was so easy for her to say those things, to say if you loved someone you could forgive them anything. Eliot didn't want her to love him, not that much, not after all he'd done. He barely deserved her trust, the care she had for him that had brought them here. Love was too much, way too much. He meant what he said about her getting a happy ever after one day. Sure, she made it clear she didn't want that with Hardison, but that phrase about fish in the sea was true enough. She could find a nice guy one day, one who would take care of her and understand her craziness enough to love her for it. Until she found that person, it seemed Eliot himself had taken on the role of protector and minder at least.

As if to prove that point to him, Parker suddenly appeared in the doorway. She had changed into sweat pants and a vest top, her bare feet making no sound on the carpet. Though it was dark enough Eliot could not make out any detail in her face, her breathing suggested she had been crying or maybe just trying not to.

"Parker..." he sat up a little in the bed. "Darlin', you should be asleep."

"Can't," she told him with a shake of her head, making her loose hair fly some. "Not in there, not by myself," she explained, coming closer.

Eliot opened his mouth to tell her she sure as hell wasn't sharing with him, but when she was close enough for him to see her face, he just couldn't do it. Parker wasn't sad much, not genuinely hurt. Stuff slid off her as if she were Teflon-coated, every possible insult, every painful situation. Very little cut her deep, made her cry or even look so upset. She had her cell phone in her hand, which was weird in itself, and it didn't take Eliot long to put the pieces together.

"You talked to Hardison," he said then, a statement not a question because he was already sure he was right.

Parker only nodded, and took his scooching over a little as a silent invitation. Lying down on top of the covers next to Eliot, she pulled the comforter up over her body with his assistance and settled down to sleep. She had her back to the hitter and not one part of her body made contact with his own. If it was anybody else, that would have made no sense, but this was Parker, and Eliot understood completely. He didn't say a word, just pushed himself back down under the covers and closed his eyes.

"Goodnight, Eliot," she said in a small voice.

"G'night, Parker," he replied just as softly.

* * *

It was rare for there to be a night when she slept right through without a single nightmare or interruption. Parker had to be so completely exhausted that her brain couldn't even cope with being aware of her own subconscious, never mind the real world. This night was different. Her head had been buzzing after her conversation with Hardison, all these emotions and feelings she didn't want and couldn't quite figure out, sloshing around inside her. She came into Eliot's room, not looking for comfort so much as peace. She felt comfortable with him close by, better in a way she couldn't ever possibly explain, and thankfully he never asked her to.

Parker had fallen asleep on the bed beside her hitter friend, aware of his presence but in no way touching him. Waking up, she found a different situation was at hand. Though they were separated by covers still, him under them and her on top but for the comforter, his arm was around her waist. Parker's back was pulled up against Eliot's chest, and she was coccooned in the warmth of his solid body. It felt nice. Strange and not of the normal, but still nice in a way that made her genuinely smile.

Eliot didn't usually like physical contact of the friendly kind. He had a lot of sex, Parker knew that, but he shied away from hugs and such as much as she did. Sophie was the snugly one, even Hardison, the rest of them dodged away from that kind of closeness, at least until now.

Parker didn't feel restricted at all, even though there was no way she could get out of Eliot's embrace without waking him up or severely struggling. She felt the most comfortable she had in longer than she cared to calculate. It would be so easy just to fall asleep for another hour or so, and closing her eyes she thought maybe she would do just that.

She had no idea that there behind her, Eliot was awake too. It hadn't been a conscious act to make her the little spoon in this arrangement. They had gone to sleep completely seperated, not a part of either of them touching the other. Clearly some time in the night he had reached for her, and in her state of sleep, Parker had allowed it. When Eliot awoke early as he always did, finding the blonde wrapped up in his arms, his first instinct had been to let go. Surely, if Parker came to and realised she was being held, she would panic. The trouble was, letting go would wake her up and raise questions in itself, he was sure. In fact, just as soon as he tried to shift away he felt her breathing change, knowing she must be awake.

Parker's lack of movement was a surprise to Eliot, perhaps an even bigger shock than the position they were currently in. She didn't panic or scramble to get away. No yelling or screaming in terror. She just seemed to take a few moments to contemplate and then snuggled herself closer, if it were possible, and went back to sleep.

Eliot knew it was wrong but a smile crept onto his lips unbidden. Parker was so special to him, like nobody else ever had been or would be, he was sure. She was a complete enigma, part innocent young girl, part master criminal. She could be crazy as anything and sweet as honey within moments. She had come on this trip because she had learnt that sometimes a problem shared wasn't quite so hard to handle. She was a very good friend, and he loved her, though Eliot was sure he could never say so or even figure out the reasoning in his own head.

Lying here like this, not with some girl he picked up in a bar sprawled next to him, but with a woman he really cared about curled up in his arms, Eliot felt so ridiculously peaceful. He couldn't deserve such comfort, such trust, such love maybe. He would never have it again, Eliot was damn sure of that, so may as well make the most of it for as long as it lasted, even if that was only five more minutes.

_To Be Continued..._


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I'm so glad the Parker-Hardison talk went over well, and more so that you all enjoyed the E/P spooning and such! Here comes the next chapter...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 10

The sun was high in the sky when Parker let herself wake again. She wasn't usually much for sleeping in, but somehow no bed had ever been as comfortable as this one. Of course the little thief realised it was not the actual bed that made the difference, but the company. She had spent the night wrapped in the safety of Eliot's arms and it had proven to be the most peaceful place in the world for Parker. Now she was awake and alone, Parker realised with a frown, at least until she sat up.

"Eliot?" she called across to the window where he stood now, pushing her messy hair off her face.

"Right here," the hitter assured her. "You okay?" he asked, turning to glance at her, revealing the tea cup in his hand.

"Uh-huh," Parker nodded overly much, rubbing her eyes and stretching out her toned body.

Eliot turned away so as not to stare, but it wasn't easily done. She had a hell of a figure and last night it had been all pressed up against him. Still, nothing had happened, nothing ever could, not with the two of them. Eliot made himself think about anything else, but that lasted all of three seconds. Parker was beside him then, peering down at the street below and then shifting her gaze into his cup. Her nose wrinkled up at the green tea, just the same as always with anything remotely healthy.

"I'm sorry about last night," he told her, just wanting to get it over with, feeling that in fact he had screwed up by mentioning it at all when Parker frowned hard at him.

"Sorry for what?" she asked as if he just said the dumbest thing ever.

A second later, Parker turned on a dime just like always, saying she was going to get dressed so they could go eat, because she was starved. She was listing possible foods, from the breakfast type to just about everything else as she skipped off through the adjoining bathroom. Eliot watched her go with a hint of a smile on his lips and a definite shake of his head.

"There's something wrong with you," he said fondly, even though she was already gone.

Of course what followed, albeit only inside his head was 'but I couldn't change you for the world'. It was true enough. In the beginning when they first formed the team in L.A., Eliot hadn't known how to take Parker. He respected her thief skills but was driven to distraction by just about everything else she said and did. Getting to know her, the way her mind worked, the past she had suffered through, he understood her better. He got to a point where he genuinely cared about her, where he learnt to love her, truth be known. She couldn't have an idea what she meant to him, and Eliot hadn't a clue how to tell her. Safer he thought to never do so, just keep on watching her back, teaching her all he could, and ensure she got through each day without getting herself killed.

Draining his cup, Eliot looked back to the window. It was a bright sunny day outside, and the city looked just this side of busy. He spotted a few stores where they could pick up some food for the next leg of their journey, some extra clothes for Parker who must be almost out, that kind of thing. Plus getting out in the world, just taking a walk around, Eliot felt like it might do both of them some good after being hauled up in both the truck and rented rooms together. Yeah, they needed a little distance and a little exercise, it could only be a good thing. Besides, by the time they ate and packed up their stuff to leave, it would hardly be worth setting off again.

Walking through to the bathroom, he tapped on the door that led to Parker's room. When she called 'come in', Eliot did so, and immediately realised he shouldn't have. The woman honestly had no sense of propriety and though he knew he ought to look away, Eliot couldn't help but let his eyes trail down her bare back before she got her top pulled over her head and down.

"You're not ready," she noted as she turned to face him, and Eliot had to blink twice before he even remembered why he walked in.

"It'll take two seconds, Parker," he grumbled, as if he were annoyed. "I, er... You wanna stay in town again tonight?" he asked her. "I figured we'll get a break from driving, pick up some supplies, take a walk around the city?"

"Sure," she agreed easily with a shrug and a nod of her head. "So long as I get to eat in the next five minutes, I'm good," she told him, shoving her hair up in a high ponytail.

Seemed that was all decided then.

* * *

It was a strange kind of a day. Eliot and Parker really hadn't ever spent so much alone time together until this road trip happened, and they certainly never went shopping as a pair, not for anything that wasn't heist related anyway. Parker had been dragged along with Sophie and only half-minded since she got to pocket some really nice jewels at those department stores, and try on silly clothes she would never wear without anyone minding. Similarly, Eliot had been taken to the mall with Sophie a couple of times to carry bags, and his upside to the tragedy was the young female shop assistants that quite liked fawning all over him. Never could Eliot or Parker remember being out like this together, but it was actually fun when they both relaxed into it.

For the sake of not drawing attention, he drew a line at her lifting anything too big or pricey. Still she was just too fast with the little things for even him to notice. Eliot didn't grumble too much, he got a doughnut and a candy bar out of her screwing around, and it wasn't as if anybody noticed. This was Parker, after all, nobody was ever going to notice, she was just too good.

They picked her up some extra clothes from a pretty basic store. She didn't want or need anything fancy, just sweats, T-shirts, that kind of thing. Eliot figured she was just being practical and bit his tongue when he spotted some dress he knew Parker would look so hot wearing. He had to stop thinking about her that way and he knew it. It had happened before, of course it had, because hell, he wasn't blind. Still, it was this trip, the genuine closeness between them, both figuratively and last night literally, that was making his brain overload with the images and feelings he needed to suppress for both their sakes.

When the shopping was done, they just kept on walking. The town had enough going on to keep their interest. They played Parker's 'how would you break in?' game with some of the larger buildings, and Eliot marvelled at how easily she figured out the security of the big stores, the local museum, and the head office of some fortune 500 company. Parker was, without question, the greatest thief in the world, and one of the most incredible women Eliot had ever met.

"What?" she asked, looking sideways at him as he stared some and smiled.

"Nothin'," he shrugged, folding his arms defensively over his chest as they walked back to the hotel, the sun already on its way down, and the lights of the city coming on. "I was just... nothin'," he repeated, shaking his head, apparently back to the Mr Grumpy Pants Parker knew and loved.

That word even passing through her head made her stop and stare herself. Love was a word Parker rarely if ever used, even inside her own head. She cared about Eliot, she really did. She wouldn't be here if she didn't, after all. He had to care about her too because he always looked out for her, kept her safe and everything. Shaking her head firmly she let it go her attention quite taken by the lights across the street from the hotel. Eliot reached for the door, holding it open and expecting her to pass though. When he turned around, Parker was dodging across the street, staring up at the lights over the entrance to a bar as if she were a kid and it was Santa's Grotto.

"Parker," he growled some as he gave chase. "C'mon, what're you doin'?"

"Are you tired yet?" she asked with a gleam in her eyes, though Eliot barely noticed.

He had looked past her head now, to the sign in the window of the bar named 'Frank's Place'. Apparently, it was open mic night and the grin on Parker's face when he actually looked at her proved she really wanted to go. He hadn't a clue why, maybe because she just never did it before, maybe for some other faraway crazy reason that only a person like Parker would ever have. For Eliot, spending a night with her in a bar didn't feel like the worst idea in the world, though in all honesty it didn't thrill him either.

"Let's go back to the hotel," he told her, as her face dropped into a sad pout. "Get something to eat, get changed... then come back," he added, glad to see the grin return to his companion's face.

Parker was as excited as a kid at Christmas when she hugged him for all of a second then, before darting back across the street to the hotel. Eliot hurried to catch up to her, mindful of the traffic as he went. He had to wonder sometimes which one of them was the crazy one. If it were him, Eliot had to admit that he didn't mind too much. It was worth it to see that smile on her face sometimes.

* * *

Parker wasn't sure what she expected an open mic night to be like exactly. She never went to a bar that had one before, which was her first reason for being here. She assumed she would hear lots of people who liked to sing and she would appreciate at least some of the performances. As it was, too many of these people were drunk and/or sucked at singing.

"Why is she doing that?" she asked Eliot in a too loud voice.

"She's singing for her boyfriend, because I'm guessing she wants him to know how she feels," he said with a tone that proved it ought to be self-explanatory, given that the young woman on stage was warbling a love song directly to a guy at a table right at the edge of the stage.

"But she's awful," Parker said, too loudly once again, to the point where others turned to glare - Eliot shoved his hand over Parker's mouth on instinct.

"Keep your voice down," he grumbled before removing said hand and letting her speak again.

"Well, she is," the blonde complained, wincing as the singer went for a high note and nearly took out all ear-drums in a five mile radius.

"That ain't the point, Parker," Elliot reminded her. "It doesn't matter how good she is, she means what she's saying, and her guy knows it," he smiled just a little as he looked from the terrible singer to her boyfriend and back.

That was love, pure and simple, right there. It wasn't a guarantee that everything would work out, that one of them wouldn't cheat or get themselves into some kind of trouble the other couldn't handle. All love had its limits, Eliot was sure of that, even the deepest kind he had ever known. Everybody had a limit and he was just the kind of guy that pushed people too them, whether he meant to or not.

"What would you sing?" asked Parker then, snatching his attention back fast enough to give the hitter whiplash.

"What'd you say?" he checked, as his thief friend rolled her eyes.

"Sing," she repeated. "What song would you wanna sing if you were gonna sing tonight?"

"I'm not singing, Parker, so get the idea out your head," he told her firmly, swigging on his beer.

She had been almost insufferable after that job for Kaye Lynn. Not that Eliot wasn't flattered to think Parker liked his singing so much she wanted to hear more, but after his experience with the country singer, he just couldn't do it. The whole thing reminded him of a world he left behind long ago, a path he was never free to walk now. Parker couldn't understand that, he knew she couldn't, which was why Eliot tried not to get mad at her. Still, she ought to have realised, now more than ever, why he had lost his grip on the dreams his younger self held. After all he had done for Moreau, and all that had come since, hell, there were even things before that he really wasn't proud of...

"But I brought this," she said, apparently in all innocence.

Eliot had got up to walk away to the bar when Parker spoke, his back facing her, and yet somehow he knew what 'this' was before he ever looked back. How in the hell she smuggled his guitar in here without him noticing Eliot would never know, and right now he was too mad to ask. How dare she? How could she? The questions were all there in his head and yet Parker somehow managed to look so innocent and sad in those expressive blue eyes when he looked her way, not a word made it past his lips for fully two minutes.

"Parker..." her name was a threat and a warning all rolled into one, as he reached out to grab the guitar from her by it's neck.

No sooner did his fingers make contact than a spotlight from the stage spun out into the crowd and lit Eliot up as if he were centre stage. Squinting some against the bright light, the hitter only wanted to run before this situation got any worse, but there was no way to do that now without looking like a fool. Somehow he seemed to have been picked out as the next performer, presumably because not too many people wanted to take a turn and he'd been spotted standing there, guitar in hand. It was a classic case of mistaken identity, or so he thought, but one glance towards Parker proved she had something more to do with this. There were no coincidences when this chick was around, no way.

"Come on up, man, show us what you got," the guy on stage who had been filling in between acts was now saying, gesturing with the hand not holding the mic for Eliot to do as he requested.

"Sing me a happy song," Parker grinned widely, but Eliot so wasn't in the mood for that.

A happy song? He wasn't sure he ever wrote one of those, especially not in any of his recent past. As if he were in the right state of mind for it even if he had. No, he didn't want to sing in front of these people, he could, but he didn't want to. Parker was in so much trouble when this was over. Still, he had little choice but to comply with the wishes of the crowd now who were all about the encouraging applause and a few wolf whistles from the ladies. Eliot strode up to the stage, glaring at Parker when he got there. She wanted a song, he'd give her a song, but she was going to wish she hadn't coerced him this way.

Parker was all pleased with herself as she got comfortable in her seat and faced the stage. She loved when Eliot sang and had been trying for months now to get him to perform for her again, ever since that job where they made him a temporary country music star. He always refused, citing various different reasons, or sometimes just flat out telling her to get lost or else. Tonight, he didn't have a choice, he was caught in her trap, and Parker was actually proud of herself for that. She changed her mind about being happy when Eliot started to strum a few chords and explain to the audience about the song he was going to sing.

"This is a song about a girl I used to know and, er... well, she lived in the apartment next to mine with her boyfriend," he explained. "He wasn't a good guy and one day, well, you'll see..."

With that he began playing the song proper and singing the words that Parker listened intently to. She had wanted a happy song, she specified as such when Eliot headed for the stage. What she was getting was very different. It seemed the girl that had lived next door to Eliot had been treated badly by her boyfriend. If she understood properly, and Parker couldn't think she was so dumb as to be mistaken, that girl got beaten on by her man. Eliot wasn't the kind of guy to stand by and let innocent people suffer, she knew that, and by the last verse and chorus she realised he hadn't this time either. This woman, this Mary who he used to know, he didn't just want to take her away from her bad situation, he wanted to knock the guy who hurt her into next Thursday. Given the Eliot that Parker knew, she believed he'd done it too, for the sake of saving another.

The song ended, and the crowd sat stunned for a moment, perhaps by the powerful lyric, maybe because the singer was so much better than they ever would have imagined. For Parker herself, she was just too stunned to hardly breathe, even as Eliot whispered a thank you to the audience and leapt down off the stage, striding purposefully towards her table.

"We're leavin'," he said as he grabbed up is jacket and kept on walking.

It was only when Parker scrambled to follow him that she realised the dampness on her cheeks and the sniffle in her nose. He had made her cry with just a song, and she couldn't understand it.

_To Be Continued..._


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Love that pretty much everyone recognised Christian Kane's 'Mary Can You Come Outside' in the previous chapter - very cool. As you may have guessed after the way that chapter ended, this one isn't going to start too happy...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 11

Parker felt sick. Not like she was actually going to throw up, but there was this awful feeling, like a lead weight in the pit of her stomach and it didn't feel like it was going to shift any time soon. She wondered if this was what guilt felt like. It was hard to tell since it wasn't really an emotion she knew much about. She did what she wanted to without regret, mindful that she never hurt anybody that couldn't deserve it. Parker had always robbed from the rich, and recently had been helping the down-trodden at the same time, thanks to her team and their Robin Hood tendencies. Today she had made a big mistake and seemed to have genuinely wounded a guy she considered to be a very special friend. At the same time, she had hurt herself, which only made it twice as bad.

Eliot had not been amused when she handed him his own guitar, smuggled into the club in secret, and pretty much demanded he sing for her. She asked for a happy song, she certainly hadn't got one, and the look on his face when it was over meant he was really mad. Parker wasn't afraid of Eliot, not ever, but she did hate to think he was going to yell or get upset over something she had done. She had tagged along on this road trip hoping to cheer him up, help the hitter get over whatever issues he was having with Moreau and all. Now she had done quite the opposite and made things worse. Yeah, she felt sick.

"Eliot!" she called as she chased him across the street and back into the hotel.

She ceased using his name when they reached the lobby, realising she was getting people's attention now. That wasn't even meant to be his name here, and she wasn't Parker either. Keeping her mouth closed, she bolted towards the elevators just in time to see the doors close on the hitter. Parker wasted no time in heading for the stairs, swiping at her eyes as she went, hating that tears were blocking her view. She wasn't sure why she was crying, maybe because she knew she'd made Eliot mad. Maybe partly because of the song he had sung at the club. She wasn't so naive, she knew why he chose that one. She couldn't be sure it was the first time he lost his temper and tore some guy a new one for what he did wrong, but that was what he was trying to prove to Parker. He seemed to want her to think he was the bad guy, that he was violent and dangerous. She knew better, and wanted to tell him so, over and over again until he listened, but she had to catch him first.

Parker was pretty sure Eliot would go back to their rooms and stay there. He wasn't so mad that he'd leave town without her, and besides which, she wasn't going to give him time to collect his things and escape again. She ran up the stairs like a woman possessed, not even stopping once to check where the elevator had got to. She reached the right floor and flew into the hallway, just in time to see Eliot's back disappear through his door. With pinpoint accuracy, she threw the keycard from he own pocket, catching his door before it could quite closed. She was lucky, it didn't snap, and she raced over to get in before Eliot noticed and locked her out.

The hitter was putting his guitar back in its case when she came barrelling in. Parker stopped just inside the door, pushing it closed without ever turning. Now she was here and able to talk to Eliot, she didn't know where to start. She wasn't out of breath from running, and though the emotion was thick in her throat she knew she could speak. All she had to do was find the words.

"I'm sorry," she said eventually.

Eliot kept his back to her for a long moment and when he did turn to look at her, Parker almost wished he hadn't. He looked less mad right now, more hurt. That was worse than mad. She could have handled yelling, she didn't know what to do when people were in pain, not emotional pain anyway, and she especially didn't know what to do for Eliot. He was the one that protected everybody else, stopped the bleeding, stopped the tears, made everything better. She didn't know how to do that for him.

On his side of this whole thing, Eliot didn't know what to say or do for the best either. He couldn't handle this, he really couldn't. This trip was meant to let him get away, think through things he'd done in his past, and reconcile it all. He wanted to try to find a way to a little peace, to make it so he could live with the man he had become. He needed to atone and at the same time move on from the past. Parker coming along for the ride had never been the plan, but for a while there it had worked out okay. She was good company, for a crazy person. She could drive him nuts so easily, and yet at the same time, it was nice to have somebody around that didn't think he was the scum of the Earth. Her good opinion of him was something to work towards, to earn the respect and trust she gave him. If he could do that, he would be okay. Unfortunately, the goodness and sweetness in her, the affection she tried to show him, it just made Eliot remember how much he couldn't deserve her, not her friendship, and certainly nothing more than that. It was all a horrible reminder of the good people he had hurt before, the innocents, the undeserving decent folk that he'd trampled on his way to the top of a food-chain he wished he kept far away from now.

"I know," he said eventually. "I know you're sorry," he told Parker, pinching the bridge of his nose as his head started to overload, letting his hair fall in his eyes because it was easier than looking at the world or at her right now.

"I didn't mean to… to make things bad," Parker continued her apology, even though he had just said it was okay, more or less – sorry alone didn't feel like enough to her. "I just wanted to hear you sing, but that song was…"

"It was true, every word," said Eliot, looking up fast. "That's the person I am, Parker," he spat out, as if the admission tasted bitter. "I'm the guy that busts into the homes of strangers and beats the living crap out of them for no reason."

"Not for no reason," Parker shook her head definitely, moving a step closer to him. "He was hitting his girlfriend. Mary was getting hurt, and you knew it. You had to save her."

"Did I?" asked Eliot, with a smile that had no warmth in it. "Maybe I did, but I coulda called the cops on that asshole. I coulda got her a safe place to run to, but no. That's good ol' Eliot Spencer. Don't think, just hit. Just swing, just shoot, just…"

The last word stuck in his throat when he met Parker's eyes. He was going to say 'kill' and on some level she knew it too. There were tears behind his eyes and he just looked so sad, beyond any kind of pain she'd seen before, even in the mirror. It destroyed him inside to remember things he'd done, whether for the right or wrong reasons. Parker knew Eliot wasn't thinking about beating up some guy that deserved it. He was thinking of people that maybe didn't, and people he'd done more to than simply knock out for the count.

"There's a mini bar in my room," she said swallowing hard. "Nate drinks to forget. You wanna try it?"

It was an oddly innocent offer, Eliot thought. Though she was tempting him into her bedroom with alcohol, Parker meant no kind of corruption to be implied. She didn't know what to say or do to make things better, so she went with her only frame of reference. When Nate was mad or sad, he drank. It was the only thing she could think of that might help, so she was offering it. Never mind the fact he also had alcohol in his own room. Eliot felt the need to help Parker soothe her wounded soul. She hated that she might've upset him, that was clear enough from the tears and the desperation in her eyes when she apologised. She really hadn't meant any harm, and it wasn't her fault he had more demons to fight than she could ever imagine.

"Sure," he said eventually. "Let's try that patented Ford method of memory removal," he said with a smirk that didn't quite come out right.

Parker didn't care. She was smiling again because she found a way to help, grabbing his hand and dragging him through the bathroom to her own room. Getting drunk with Parker might just be an experience Eliot could afford to try. Hell, it might even help, albeit for just a few hours. What harm could it really do in the long run?

* * *

Eliot wasn't exactly drunk. It took more than a few tiny little bottles from a mini bar to achieve such a state these days, but he had had enough to feel a little easier inside. Only drinking himself into complete oblivious, partial death by Jack, would rid his head of Moreau and his past completely, but this would do for now. Parker was at least amusing when she drank, which helped his mood. She wasn't a light-weight as such, she could hold her liquor without throwing up or passing out, but she got the most uncontrollable giggles over the dumbest things when she got to drinking much. It also loosened her tongue and her talking a mile a minute on just about any topic that came up was as hilarious as it was crazy. Her flying off at tangents got worse, but Eliot didn't care to keep up anyway. He just listened, nodded in roughly the right places, made comment when it was really necessary, but mostly he was quiet.

It was stupidly relaxing just lying here across the bottom of the bed with one arm behind his head, feeding in the contents of one tiny bottle after the other as Parker handed them to him, her voice rambling on in his ear with silly stories of heists gone wrong and some of the happier adventures she had as a kid. It was good to know her past wasn't all dark and dismal, even if the highlights of her childhood did involve petty theft and minor felonies.

"Oh," she said with sudden surprise, making Eliot look from the ceiling to her. "All the way empty, every single one," she sighed heavily, showing her friend all the little bottles of nothing.

The next thing Eliot knew, Parker was laid down beside him, mimicking his position. She was close enough he could smell her shampoo and feel the warmth of her body. It made him think of last night when she had been curled up in his arms, perfectly content. That was the only time on this trip he'd felt more peaceful than right now.

"You are amazing, darlin'," he said without really thinking, the effects of the alcohol, no doubt, since it was something that rarely if ever happened when he was sober.

Parker looked oddly startled by the compliment, and that just made Eliot's heart ache. Someone like her should be used to being told how great they were, but no. Nobody cared enough to be that kind to Parker. She was unwanted and uncared for. It wasn't fair.

On Parker's part, she wasn't thinking too much herself. As a rule she tried not to, since it usually led to badness. Right now she felt warm and comfortable, and had an all-over glow that she couldn't put down solely to the alcohol. It hadn't been there until Eliot turned and looked at her like this, telling her she was apparently amazing.

It was usual that when Parker chose to move it was lightning fast and unexpected. Still, Eliot could not have predicted her next move, and probably even Parker wouldn't've known she was going to do it until it was done. Instinct made her do it, that was what she thought anyway, just vaguely, and then she was there, on top of Eliot, with her lips pressed firmly against his own.

This wasn't right, that was what Eliot was trying to tell himself, and yet the reasons why he should stop it and fast seemed to have disappeared clean out of his head. Blame the booze, blame the warm female form squirming around on top of him, hell, blame anything you wanted, it didn't stop it being true that he just couldn't concentrate on anything but Parker right now. It was only when her hands crept from his chest in a decidedly southerly direction that his brain caught up with the rest of him, and Eliot made a point of carefully but definitely pushing her away.

"Parker, stop," he told her, as gently as he could, knowing that any kind of rejection might just break her tonight. "C'mon, sweetheart, you know this ain't a good idea," he said, looking up into her wide eyes.

She looked as startled as he'd felt when she first threw herself on top of him. Maybe her own actions surprised even her. Maybe it was the fact he had stopped her. He might have been surprised to realise that her real shock came from his responding to her so readily.

It was true what she thought then, that people were more easily seduced when drunk. Booze wasn't just good for drowning bad memories, it was good for loosening morals as well. Now Parker knew for sure that Eliot did like her, he would'n'tve let things get even this far if he didn't.

"I know you like women. I know you like sex," she reeled off, still straddling his hips. "And I'm pretty sure you like me," she added, trying not to smile too much as she shifted on top of him.

For fear of losing his self-control altogether, Eliot bodily picked her up and moved her then. He sat up on the edge of the bed before she had a chance to resume her former position and ran a hand through his hair.

"Damnit, Parker," he muttered, not really angry or even accusatory, which was a relief. "You don't just... It's not like I don't want to, okay?" he admitted, looking sideways at the blonde who grinned too much at his admission. "It's just not as simple as that, not with you and me, babe. It can't be."

Eliot felt like he was turning into a chick, or something worse. He was not the kind of guy that turned down hot women that offered him sex, especially not when he was feeling down and kinda drunk. Still, he meant what he said. This was different. Parker was different. It wasn't just that she was inexperienced and all, Eliot knew. He couldn't use her to make himself feel better, not even if she was more than willing to let him. She mattered too much to be a one night stand, and he couldn't offer her any more than that. He wasn't worthy of a woman like her and he knew it. Better to say so now, to back off and make it clear it could never happen, before anything really dumb got said or done.

"I thought sex was pretty simple, actually," Parker shrugged, clearly no getting it at all. "I mean, okay, not the most experienced person in the world," she raised a hand as if confessing to what he already knew. "But God made us so it just kinda works..."

"Parker!" he gently slapped her hands down when they started making gestures he could really use not seeing right now, if ever. "Sweetheart, it ain't even about sex," he told her, feeling stupid and awkward and all kinds of things he'd rather not be feeling, but this had to be said and it had to be now. "It's about... It's like I told you before, about you getting your happy ever after some day. I want you to have that, Parker, I really do," he told her sincerely, squeezing her hand in his own. "One day, you're gonna meet a man, and he's gonna take care of you and love you, and when you... when things get serious with you two," he said with a look that even Parker couldn't fail to read correctly, "then it'll be about love, and it'll be special. As special as you are."

Parker felt stupidly emotional at the sound of those words. Nobody ever called her special before, at least not in a good way. Nobody ever looked at her the way Eliot was right now, like she was the only person in the whole world that mattered. All it made her want to do was kiss him again, and find out if maybe she could feel those special feelings he was talking about with him. Eliot didn't seem willing though, and it was wrong to push when a person said no. That had to apply to men as much as women, she guessed.

"I'm sorry," she said with a sniff, not sure why she felt like she was going to start crying again, but putting it down to the booze because that was just easier than finding another, deeper reason.

"Nothin' to be sorry for, darlin'," Eliot promised her, glad that talk was over and that she seemed to understand.

Letting out a breath, he allowed his body to fall back against the mattress with a thud. Man, he was tired, and this night was going to turn out to be as late as the last if they didn't sleep soon. Of course, the idea of getting up and walking even as far as the next room didn't entirely appeal. Between the emotions and the alcohol, the soft bed beneath him and the warmth of the room, he just wanted to close his eyes and sleep right here. He almost changed his mind when he felt Parker move up beside him again.

"This is okay, right?" she checked, pillowing her head on his chest, seemingly just wanting to sleep like they did last night, wrapped up in each others arms.

Eliot didn't answer her at first, just shifted his arm around her back to pull her in closer and marvelled at the fact she was even there at all.

"Goodnight, Parker," he whispered into her hair, dropping a feather-light kiss on top of her head.

"'Night, Eliot," she replied drowsily, and was soon fast asleep.

Surprisingly, Eliot was not far behind.

_To Be Continued..._


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Last chapter was so popular with the kissage and Eliot sweetness - thank you for all the lovely feedback on that. Now, this chapter? Hmm, probably not gonna be so popular...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 12

_It was dark in the tunnels beneath the city. Dark, hot and constricted. Eliot had been in worse fixes, he knew that, or he thought he did, but it was getting harder and harder to remember._

_They had kept him awake too long, and then knocked him out at their leisure. The sleep was not peaceful or comfortable. Rocks digging into his wounded back, the whip marks bleeding, heavy limbs protesting even when he was drugged into submission. It was hard to tell if infection had set in, given the heat he was already experiencing, but he doubted they were going to let him die, not yet._

_The boss had plans for him, excruciating, agonising plans. Withstanding torture was something Eliot had trained his body for but this was some of the worst he had endured, and right now he could see no end. Though he knew he could get out of the cell, it was knowing where to head when he was there that presented the problem. Guards were everywhere, all speaking a dialect he couldn't quite decipher. In the dark they were unknown targets, and his senses were going, one by one._

_Another couple of days and he was going to be too weak. He had to make a plan, make his escape before it was too late. The item was lost for now, he would have to go without it. Maybe he would figure out a way back or an interception once he was free and healed. For now it was all about the escape, but focusing his brain on even punching and running was harder than anything for Eliot._

_Everything hurt, every inch of him ached, bled, burned. He was given just enough food and water to survive, none of it clean or healthy. His body was a wreck and his mind was following. Eliot was running out of choices and time._

_Beyond the walls he heard movement, the jangling of keys and heavy evil laughter. Now was the time, the only time he had left. One last push, it had to be now. Eyes closed, steeling himself against what came next, Eliot took a breath of hot rancid air, and waited…_

Parker woke up when her bed started shaking. No, not her bed just her pillow, the pillow that was also know as Eliot. They had fallen asleep lying across ways at the foot of her bed at the hotel. She remembered exactly where she was and why, and the dull thud in her head reminded her of all the alcohol she and Eliot drank before they went to sleep. Now they were both awake, or at least she thought so when she heard him speak. Sitting up a little, Parker realised Eliot still had his eyes closed and that whatever was making him yell and flail around was inside his head – a nightmare.

It was strange, Parker had nightmares all the time, as a proven a few nights ago when Eliot had woken her from one and brought her comfort. She wanted to do the same for him now and yet wasn't sure of herself. She didn't do comfort, she was bad at it, but Eliot never really minded when she screwed up, especially not on this trip. He seemed to appreciate that she was making an effort somehow.

"Eliot?" she called his name softly at first and then again a little more loudly.

He mumbled something, a slur of words she couldn't make out.

"Eliot!" she tried again, going so far as to bodily shake him this time.

Even Parker with her quick thinking and excellent reflexes couldn't have been prepared for what came next. All in a moment, one arm shot out to grab her, dragging her down, the other about to strike her when she screamed. It was loud and panicked enough to bring Eliot around. His eyes shot open, but his body was still rigid, his arm locked so tight around Parker's throat, she still wasn't sure how she ever managed to make enough noise to wake him. If she was afraid, she didn't make it obvious. By comparison, Eliot was terrified.

The hitter's body went limp as if he had been knocked out just as soon as his mind caught up to reality. Parker scrambled out of his now non-existent grip, putting a hand to her throat and coughing a little. She really hadn't been expecting any of that, and it had shaken her up some, even if she wasn't making a fuss right now.

Eliot looked shocked and horrified as he realised piece by piece what had happened. He had been dreaming, or rather reliving the past. Shadows of dark memories from one of his worst instances of being captured had replayed behind his eyes. He had seen his attacker above him and reacted the only way he knew to defend himself and make his escape. If Parker hadn't got through to him when she had, he could've killed her.

Though he swallowed hard twice, it did no good, and he was up and running to the bathroom a second later, heaving up everything his body contained. Parker didn't move. She had no idea what she was supposed to do or say. She knew how bad nightmares could get. She had woken in the night having fallen out of bed, smashed lamps, torn up bed sheets, acting out the worst of her panic, lashing out an enemies that were no longer there.

Though she had suffered on the streets, and at the hands of unsuitable foster parents, Eliot had endured worse in his way. Experts in violence in torture had done their work on his body and mind. She had no doubt at all he had been reliving the worst pieces of his dark past. He had attacked her thinking she was the deadliest of his enemies when she was in fact a friend. She didn't blame him, she couldn't, but no doubt he would blame himself. Eliot liked to think himself guilty of everything ever, and though she understood he needed to feel bad for the things he had done wrong, she wished he could learn to move on from it somehow.

Eliot appeared in the bathroom doorway then, breathing hard and sweating profusely. He looked as pale as Parker had ever seen him, worse than after some of the nastiest beatings she had seen him take at the hands of men twice his size. Without a word she went over to the mini bar, pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and brought it to him. Eliot looked at it only briefly before his eyes came up to her neck and face. She didn't look scared, not even angry or upset with him, but the red marks already showing at her throat proved he had to have hurt her, the very last person he would ever want to cause pain.

"Parker…" he said in nothing but a whisper, but she immediately shook her head, pressing the bottle of water into his hand.

"You need to drink," she told him, as if she were his mother or similar. "When you're sick you need fluids. You taught me that.

It was hard to get his head around, how she could be okay with what had just happened here when he was so far from it himself. He had attacked her, injured her. A few seconds later, she could've been dead, and she had to realise that. Even Parker with her backwards logic and wacky ideas about what was funny and what really mattered, she wasn't so naive. She knew all too well what he was capable of and he'd had her held helpless and captive, his arm around her throat just a few minutes ago, right here in this room…

"Parker, I'm so, so, sorry," he told her, even as she was walking away. "Darlin', I won't ever be able to tell you that enough times. I never should've…"

"Stop it, please," she urged him, covering her face with her hands a moment, regaining some kind of composure before she looked back at him. "Did you mean to do that to me?" she asked him straight out, already certain of the answer.

"No," he replied immediately. "Never."

"Then it's fine," she told him, immediately having to clear her throat just so she could swallow properly. "I'll be fine."

"That's not the point," he shook his head, turning he bottle of water over and over in his hands without ever opening it.

"It's the only point that matters," she told him. "Drink the fluids. You need the fluids," she repeated, walking back to the fridge and getting herself a drink too.

The truth was, her throat was burning and her neck ached terribly. A glance in the mirror on the opposite wall showed her the red welts he must have already seen. She'd have bruises there, she was certain, right where his arm had pushed too tight across her wind pipe. Yes, she knew she was lucky to be alive, on some level she understood that, but at the same time she still couldn't believe for a second that Eliot would ever hurt her on purpose.

She didn't want to deal with this or be upset about it or anything. That made it all the more aggravating to her when she felt tears forming behind her eyes and a new lump forming in her searing throat even as she drank. The sobbing noise seemed strange to her own ears, especially when she realised it was coming from herself. It wasn't like Parker to keep bursting in to tears like this, but then a lot had happened these past few weeks and she hadn't broken once. Maybe it was now finally catching up to her, maybe it was just the effect of so much alone time with Eliot. She honestly didn't know.

The man himself still felt very sick, even though he knew he had nothing left to give on that score. This wasn't something they could brush aside and pretend didn't happen, like a drunken fumble or stupid words said out of turn. This was real and brutal and right up there amongst the biggest regrets of his life, especially when he realised Parker was crying.

It was instinct to want to comfort her, to find any way at all to ease her pain. Unfortunately, he had been the cause of all of it, the physical and emotional hurt she was now suffering. Touching her would be wrong, saying anything, in his mind could only really make matters worse and no better. Eliot Spencer was helpless and he hated that almost as much as he hated himself in that moment.

Taking the top off the water bottle, he drank as much as he dare. It was all he could do for her right now, just as she asked. Still he could hear her sniffling and trying her damnedest not to cry and in the silent room just before dawn, there was no other sound to hide it. Taking a breath, he walked over to her, stopping a foot behind, contemplating if even a hand on her shoulder would be too much after what had happened.

Parker knew he was there. She both heard and felt him moving closer, but he didn't speak. With anybody else she knew her body would be rigid with fear by now, worrying what they might do whilst her back was turned, what attack they might make. She was always on guard, until she was with Eliot. Even after what he'd done to her, she didn't feel afraid. Shocked and a little shaken by the experience, but not at all scared. It was confusing and strange, but she didn't care to question it. Right now all she wanted was to feel better than this, and the only place she knew to find the comfort she craved was in his arms.

Within seconds, she was there, turning herself into his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears. Eliot almost tripped backwards with the force of her diving at him. It was the very last reaction he expected to get and his body wasn't exactly at it's optimum after the booze, the nightmare, and the vomiting. For a full minute he stood there with his arms still by his sides, Parker gripping him around the middle, like clinging to him would keep her from drowning. God, he understood that feeling. Tentatively, at last he put his arms around her too and held her as gently as he knew how, rubbing her back as she continued to cry. There they stood until she was all done sobbing.

Parker moved her head off Eliot's chest to look him in the eyes, hating the way he winced when he saw the state of her neck again.

"I'm not gonna lie, it does hurt," she admitted, "but I've had worse," she shrugged then, sniffing hard because now wasn't a good time to need a tissue. "You know I'm not weak. I can handle it," she promised him.

Eliot knew that, of course he did, but it wasn't the point as he quickly told her.

"I can't change what other people did to you," he sighed. "But I'd bounce them all from here to the end of the world to stop 'em doing it again," he assured her. "_I_ did this, Parker," he reminded her, as if reminder were needed, his fingers reaching out to her neck but never quite making contact with the angry red marks. "I did this, and I can make sure it never happens again."

"No," she said too loudly when he tried to move away, grabbing a whole handful of his shirt. "You're _not_ leaving me, and you're _not_ taking me home," she told him with defiance that was not to be countered. "I know the others think I'm this little girl that needs taking care of, and I like that you all look out for me now, especially you," she told him truthfully, her tone more even and reasonable now, but just as determined. "That doesn't change the fact that I am a grown up, Eliot. I know what I want, I know what I can deal with, and I know… I know that I can't let you just walk away like everybody else in my stupid life always has," she told him, hating that her voice broke when she tried to go on, stamping her foot with the frustration of it all. "Damnit, Eliot!" she used his own oft-used phrase against him. "You're supposed to be different!"

"If I was different I wouldn't've hurt you," he shook his head, reaching for her hand only to untangle her fingers from his shirt. "I'm going back to my room."

He turned to leave then, making it as far as the bathroom door when Parker spoke again.

"I'm gonna come get you for breakfast in an hour," she told him. "If you're not there…" she began, knowing there was no threat she could make that'd mean anything, changing her mind to a simple demand. "Just be there, please."

Eliot didn't answer, but she was pretty sure he nodded his head just slightly before he left her alone for now.

_To Be Continued..._


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: So all you reviewer types really liked the chapter I thought you'd hate. Well, colour me confused! lol Thank you though, all of you, for the lovely comments, I really do appreciate them. Now, if this chapter had a tagline it'd be: sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better.**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 13

It wasn't like it had been before, and Parker hated that. On the upside, she and Eliot were both still here, in his truck and headed in the same direction they had been two days ago. On the downside, the mood had shifted, and Parker highly doubted it was going to get back to the way it was any time soon.

The relief she felt when Eliot was still in his room when she went to find him for breakfast this morning was immense. That feeling faded some when she realised that whilst he was still prepared to stick with her on their road trip, he wasn't anything like the same person he had been before. All through their meal, he had barely spoken, hardly even looked at Parker. She tried a couple of times to make conversation but he wouldn't bite, and in the end she gave up, hoping he would just get over it.

They packed up their things and got back on the road, with no mention of the night before's events. Parker caught Eliot looking at her though, sideways and surreptitiously. She wasn't supposed to notice, she guessed, but Parker was smarter than that. She knew why he was looking too, at least she thought she did. He wasn't seeing her face or anything when he glanced over, only the marks still visible on her neck where he had grabbed her mid-nightmare and pinned her down.

Wearing her hair down only covered them so much, but Parker had made the effort. She really didn't want their friendship to fall apart over something so dumb. Sure, what happened was bad, she understood that, she wasn't stupid. At the same time, it wasn't as if Eliot meant to her hurt her. He would never, ever do that. Parker believed that whole-heartedly even before he told her as much. Unfortunately, he just wouldn't or couldn't accept that apparently.

Sat beside her, Eliot tried to keep his eyes on the road, but it wasn't easy. With his shades on, he figured Parker probably hadn't noticed he kept casting glances her way. It was stupid, it wasn't as if those marks, the tell tale signs of what he had done to her, were going to just magically disappear. They were there, red and angry, reminding him of the monster he still had the capability to be, no matter how much he wished he could fight it.

Parker was too nice about it all, it honestly only made Eliot feel worse. If she got mad at him, showed some fear, he might actually take it better. Not that he wanted Parker to hate him or be afraid of him, because he kind of loved that she trusted him the way she did, but he knew he wasn't worthy of that. He couldn't deserve her good opinion, especially after last night, and yet she was still here, willing to threaten him with anything she thought might make him let her along on the rest of this insane road trip.

Things were not right with them, and Eliot wondered if they ever could be now. The fact he had shown his true nature and Parker was still here, that had to mean something, but he couldn't accept it, just couldn't let it be like she could. Hurting her hurt him inside, more painful than any bullet or knife wound or torture he ever withstood. Seeing her in pain was bad enough, but knowing he caused it was killing him by degrees. He wasn't sure how much of this he could take, but what choice did he really have? She wouldn't leave on her own and he didn't have it in him to abandon her, not now, not ever.

The worst of it was that Parker knew it too. From that moment in the coffee shop in Katonah, when she sat down at the table and looked him in the eye, Eliot knew they were both on the same page. They were on this trip for the long haul together. She wasn't leaving, not then, not now. It astounded him, thrilled him and scared him all at the same time, though Eliot would admit to nothing.

Parker's hand at the radio made him want to flinch. but Eliot fought the reaction. She turned up the volume on a Garth Brooks number they had happily sung along to together not two days ago now. Today was different, today he was so far from a happy singing mood, and couldn't believe she much wanted to join in either. Her throat had to hurt, after what he did to her. He'd had similar wounds, worse than hers since the marks at his own neck would've been intended and much more viciously made. Still, the injury was in the same place and it would hurt, no matter what Parker tried to convince him or herself.

"One of my favourites," she smiled just a little as she gestured towards the radio.

"Yeah," Eliot replied only so she wouldn't keep repeating herself or get more persistent.

Of course he ought to have known better. Parker wouldn't just let it go. It wasn't her way or her nature. She wanted to have some kind of conversation, she wanted all the bad things between them to evaporate and for everything to go back to normal. Eliot knew because he wanted the same thing if he were honest. The difference was, he lived in reality and knew there was no way for it to happen. Parker lived in hope, even after all she had been through in her life, the pain and anguish that he added to every day, every moment...

"He's right, you know," she said then, catching Eliot unawares.

"Who is?" he checked, wondering at his own curiousity but there it was anyway.

"'Life is like a windshield'," she quoted as she gestured at the radio once again. "'It ain't no rear view mirror'. You have to look forward, not back," she explained how she took the lyrics, whether her interpretion was right or not. "Nobody is a hundred percent happy with their past, Eliot, but you can't live the rest of your life feeling bad about it or..."

She stopped talking fast when the truck swung abruptly. It spun in practically a U-turn, landing up the wrong way round on the side of the highway. Parker thanked her lucky stars that her reflexes were good and her seat-belt was tightly buckled. A lesser person would've feared flying through the windshield, but not her, not a woman that dived off fifty storey buildings for fun.

"What the hell, Eliot?" she asked him anyway, not exactly loving the move he just pulled out of nowhere.

He didn't answer. He was already half way out the truck before she even finished the question, stalking off around back, his boots kicking up dust as he did so. Parker didn't understand what had just happened. One minute she was talking about a song, hoping her words were the right ones to be helpful. Next thing she knew the truck was pulled over in an alarming fashion, the engine dead, and her friend and driver storming away from her, mad as hell.

"Eliot!" she called behind him as she scrambled out of her seat, immediately wishing she hadn't tried to yell when her throat strained tight with the effort.

"Get back in the truck, Parker!" he called over his shoulder, but he ought to have known she would never comply with that demand or any other.

To be fair to her, she didn't move or try to talk again. It made Eliot feel sick to think she had hurt her throat bad enough yelling that she couldn't make a sound. He'd done that. He had given her the injuries on her neck, he had almost crashed the truck with her in it, he was probably scaring the life out of her now. In that moment, Eliot truly felt like the monster he used to be and feared becoming again at a moments notice.

"This wasn't how it was supposed to be!" he yelled, arms over his head, then just waving in some random gesture of frustration. "This was _my_ trip," he reminded Parker, jabbing his index finger into his own chest. "For me, to help me to... to let me deal with all the stuff from before," he told her frustratedly.

"I know," Parker nodded, taking a couple of tentative steps towards him and away from the truck, "and I wanna help you..."

"Why?" Eliot's booming voice interrupting would have startled anybody else, anybody that wasn't Parker. "You think I'm some Goddamn saint or hero or somethin'?! Even after what I told you?!" he shouted still, slamming one hand into the other too hard. "About me and Moreau?! What's the matter with you?"

Parker wasn't sure if he was really mad at her or at himself or even just angry with Moreau right now. All she knew was that he was getting crazy about it and that was no good. She had seen Eliot mad before, so mad she thought he might explode. This was different, though she could never explain how or why. All Parker really knew was that she didn't want him to be this way. Eliot was her friend, more than that actually, though she would have trouble explaining if asked. She wanted him to calm down and be how he was before, but God only knew how she was meant to make it happen.

"We all did bad things, Eliot," she said carefully, so afraid it was the wrong thing.

Parker didn't know whether to be glad or more worried when the fight seemed to go out of the hitter then. His shoulders slumped, his head went down, his hair falling to hide his face a moment. Parker was about to reach out to him when suddenly his head came up, one hand pushing his hair back off his face as he looked her right in the eyes.

"No, darlin'," he told her, just as gentle as he'd ever been with her. "No, you don't know what bad things really are. Believe me, I'm glad you don't, but stealing a few paintings, lifting a few wallets... that don't even put you close to what I did," he said seriously.

"I know you hurt people," Parker swallowed hard, closing a little more space between them, "but only because you had to.."

"No!" he exploded once more, but Parker wouldn't back up, not this time, no matter what he said. "Not because I had to. Sometimes, yeah. It was kill or be killed and I picked the option that let me walk away," he explained too loudly, too close to her face. "I ain't proud of it, but I can live with it, because I have to, but for Moreau..."

Parker watched his expression start to crumble and heard his voice break then. Eliot never cried, never. The only time he came close was in that park, just a couple of weeks ago...

"I told you that the worse things I did my whole life I did for him," he said in a low voice that vibrated through Parker's whole body as their gazes remained locked. "You looked at me and you asked me what that was, you remember?"

Slowly she nodded, then swallowed painfully hard so she could speak.

"You don't have to tell me."

"Yeah, I do," he sighed too heavily. "Because nothing else is gonna make you understand, and..." he cleared his throat, "and if I don't let this outta me, I can't... Parker, I killed him," he admitted at length, tears glistening in his eyes that made Parker want to die.

"Who?" she forced out around the lump in her throat that hurt that much more than any bruise he had given her last night.

"His name was Tom," Eliot croaked out, eyes drifting away to a spot in the middle distance. "I could tell you his date of birth, his driving licence number. I had to know everything, I had to," he shook his head sadly at the memories. "Moreau wanted him gone, and I was his right hand. I wanted out and he said 'just one last job, man, just one, then you can walk away clean'."

Parker couldn't bear the pain in his face and voice as he went on, but there was no choice but to let him finish the explanation she had wanted all along. At this point, he needed to tell her, whether she wanted to hear or not.

"So I learnt everything he gave me about this guy and I went and... and I did it," he choked out as one tear escaped down his cheek and his gaze returned to meet Parker's own. "He had a little girl, Parker. She was five years old and I took her daddy away and... and I don't even know if he did anything wrong."

Parker couldn't stand it. She wasn't even in control of her own body as a sob flew out of her mouth unbidden and tears came pouring from her eyes. She never thought about it, never. Of course she knew Eliot had hurt people, even killed people, but she never thought about them being innocent, about them having families or friends. What hit her harder than that particular realisation was how broken Eliot himself looked in that moment. This was the first and only time she'd seen him genuinely in tears, and the only thing she could think to do was reach for him.

His arms slid around her frame like the most natural thing in the world as she put her own up around his neck and pulled him in close. With his face buried in her shoulder, Parker could feel Eliot's tears soaking through her T-shirt but barely noticed at all as she cried just as hard on him. At some point they gave up on standing, knees buckling with the overwhelming emotion. Knelt together in the dust, it really didn't matter. They just held onto each other until the moment passed.

"I'm sorry," he said against her shoulder a while later.

"Me too," she told him as they pulled away enough to meet each others eyes again. "I shouldn't've come along, I just..."

She didn't have a reason or an explanation. From the start Parker knew she couldn't ever tell Eliot exactly why she was here without admitting something that scared her half to death. She had kissed him last night, offered him sex even, and he turned her down. What came after didn't matter, what he told her just now couldn't change anything. What she felt for this man was beyond anything she ever knew before. As he was now, broken and tear-stained, he was still Eliot, and she still wanted to stick with him, come what may. These were things she could never verbalise and simply didn't try as she leaned in ever closer and put her lips to his own.

This was so different. There was no alcohol involved, no fumbling around in a hotel room like a cliché. Neither of them were thinking about sex or a relationship, or where the hell things went from here. It was just a kiss, just a moment in time. She wanted him to feel better, and he didn't seem to mind, at least at first.

Eliot pulled away after a few seconds and just stared at Parker for a long moment, like he was trying to figure out what the hell just happened. In all honesty, she looked a little confused herself and immediately apologised for whatever it was. He didn't answer her, just let his hand wander through her hair some more, and then so very gently pulled her close until they were kissing again.

Parker didn't know it could feel like this. She'd kissed enough guys in her time, maybe not as many as some girls, but enough to know what it felt like. This was something else, something... she didn't have words for it, and apparently she didn't need to. Less than a minute and they were parting, and Eliot said the only words that needed to be spoken.

"We got miles to go. I wanna make our next stop before dark," he told her hoarsely.

"Uh-huh" Parker nodded dumbly, leaning her face into his hand a moment. "I can drive for a while if...?" she suggested warily, even after everything.

"Yeah," he agreed softly, the vaguest hint of a smile playing at his lips. "Yeah, you can."

_To Be Continued..._


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Look at all the fabulous feedback! You reader/reviewer types make me so giddy! And yes, I know, you're all very happy that Eliot & Parker are finally headed in the right direction. Maybe this time we'll have no turning back from that. Buckle up, kids, here we go again...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 14

Eliot didn't let himself drift very often. In his line of work it was staying alert that kept you alive. He had to be in charge, it was just his way, and yet today he had relinquished a little of that control to the last woman most would ever let take the reins of a situation. Parker was crazy, that was as true today as it had been the first time he met her, but Eliot had learnt to understand that kind of crazy now. He knew Parker, better than he ever thought he could know anybody anymore, and he had learnt to care about her, love her even. Her crazy ways were endearing and they made her who she was, this amazing person who could accept him for what he was and what he had been.

It was still hard for Eliot to make sense of how Parker could care about him at all after everything he had told her. She knew the truth of him and his past, the same past that made him hate himself in no small way. She couldn't be mad at him or see the monster he believed himself to be. All she wanted to do was hold him, kiss him, love him in her own way. It was baffling and amazing and terrifying all at once, but Eliot didn't want to lose it. If Parker could have this much faith in him to be a changed man, maybe it was possible. Maybe miracles did happen.

Time and distance had started to have no meaning not long after they set off driving again. With Parker at the wheel, Eliot had no particular reason to keep his concentration fixed or even his eyes open. The fields and trees blurred into one great mass of gold and green, the little towns they passed through whizzed by as if they were nothing.

Hours went by and miles were travelled, with Eliot barely aware of where they were anymore. He trusted Parker to follow the route he'd mapped out, and only started to wonder if his trust had been misplaced when he awoke from a brief and blurry dream to the sight and smell of way too many trees.

The much quoted line from the Wizard of Oz came to Eliot's mind unbidden, though it wasn't true. In fact he was pretty sure they _were_ in Kansas right now, and that had not been part of the route he had planned. Glancing over at Parker he was only mildly surprised to see her smiling. Despite everything - their fighting, the angry marks at her neck that he caused, the fact she'd had no one to talk to these last couple of hours he'd been asleep - she just kept on grinning like she was happy as a clam. He loved that about her too.

"Parker, where the hell are we?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and pushing his hair back off his face.

"Shawnee National Park," she told him easily, glancing his way a moment. "Kansas," she confirmed, just in case he didn't know.

Eliot took it as a good sign that she at least knew she'd taken a wrong turning, though questioning her as to why was the next thing on his mind. The hitter opened his mouth to speak but the words died on his tongue. He didn't need to ask why they were here as a road sign that couldn't've been better placed if it tried told him the answer he was looking for.

"This is where you're from," he said, a statement not a question, though Parker answered as if it had been.

"Nope, not exactly," she told him, checking the road was as clear as it seemed before she pulled over.

The engine shut off and the surrounding area was almost completely silent. Her pause seemed unusually long before she finally explained.

"This is where I'm from," she said, confusing Eliot at first until she turned some in the driver's seat to look right at him in the fading light of the day coming through the canopy of trees. "The Parker part of me, the person I am now," she tried to explain but knew she was doing so badly. "This was where I ran to, and when I was found and they asked my name, I said Parker," she smiled at the memory that had both its happy and painful sides. "It kinda stuck."

Eliot didn't know what to say then. He had always been a little cagey about telling the team the details of his own past, and yet Parker had got his childhood tales out of him pretty easily and on more than one occasion. The parts in between a pretty happy time back home with Momma and Daddy and the present day were dark and unpleasant, but even sharing those hadn't scared Parker away. Here she was, having found out all she could about him, straight from the horses mouth, still not wanting to bolt. Instead she had started sharing her own tales, things he knew she probably never told anybody else her whole life. The fact her name had been chosen from a road sign in the middle of Kansas, a little out of the way place named Parker.

"How old were you?" he asked curiously, almost afraid of the answer.

"Seven, I think," she confirmed with a sad kind of a smile as she met his eyes. "I wasn't a thief then, well, not _until_ then," she sighed. "Not that I was exactly a normal kid but on that ranch, I was... I remember being happy."

Eliot listened intently to her words as she described the life she remembered in curious detail up to the age of seven or so. She had lived on a ranch in Kansas, fostered by a much older woman who she called Aunt Katy. It seemed that same woman had fostered a lot of kids but when Parker was there she was the only one, the last one. She didn't know the details, she had been too little to understand, but men in suits came a lot and told Aunt Katy that she wasn't allowed to take on any more children. She could keep this one for now because she was settled and wouldn't be there long anyway, but Parker hadn't known why then.

"I guess she was too old," she said with a sniffle that proved she could still be emotional about it even now. "And she might've been sick, I don't know," she shook her head. "All I knew was she loved me, and I... I loved her," she explained, one hand moving up to wipe under her eye before a tear had a chance to fall.

Eliot already knew, before Parker ever got any further with her tale, how this was going to end. It could only be tragically, with the death of poor old Aunt Katy, and Parker bolting for fear of where she'd be taken next if she didn't. Lo and behold, she told the story just the way his brain knew it would go, and Eliot's heart broke for her all over again.

"I'm sorry, Parker," he said, reaching for her hand then thinking better of it. "I'm sorry things had to be that way for you."

"It's not your fault," she shrugged, forcing a smile. "I got a good life up to seven, and things aren't so bad now either," she told him with a look.

Eliot couldn't hold her gaze and looked away fast. She was just so convinced they were in this happy little situation. He couldn't see it himself. Maybe he should be glad and grateful that she could accept him, warts and all for want of a better phrase, but he couldn't. Eliot felt the need to keep on punishing himself, no matter what.

"It's true what I said before," she told him out of the blue, catching his full attention, be it deliberate or not. "I did see a horse kill a clown once, but before that... I rode horses with Aunt Katy when I was little. The first time she put me up there alone, I felt so grown up and so free. I loved the wind blowing through my hair and feeling like I could just fly away," she smiled.

"Like jumping off a high rise, huh?" he asked with a hint of a smirk that didn't quite happen.

"Better, in some ways," she admitted. "Until the day Aunt Katy died," she explained then, her eyes darkening as she stared at a spot in the middle of nothing beyond the windshield. "She was watching me ride and when I saw her fall down, I panicked. I scared the horse and it threw me, almost trampled me before I could get up," she shuddered as she recalled the scene all too clearly.

With her eyes tight shut and her body rigid, Eliot wasn't sure he should dare to touch her, but he had nothing else to do.

"Hey, it's okay," he promised, putting the gentlest of hands to her shoulder. "I guess that would shake you up pretty bad, between the fall and... and what happened to her."

Parker slowly let the tension go out of her body and nodded her head, instinctively leaning into his touch. It always felt better when Eliot was touching her, comforting her, holding her. She was never afraid and felt she never would be, not even after the things he told her. He'd been a bad man, that she had always known, but sometimes that was just the position life put you in. Sometimes you made a lousy choice and then there was no running from the consequences. Parker knew that. She had tried running that first day and hadn't really stopped since, not until the team, not until Eliot and his arms that always caught her when she needed them to.

"I wish you'd been there," she sighed, leaning over the controls between them and setting her head on his shoulder.

Eliot let his arm go around her back, holding her gently. It still terrified him how he had hurt her before, but that wasn't ever going to happen again, no matter what. Eliot didn't care if he had to sleep with his arms bound from now on, he was never letting himself do such a thing to her again, not ever.

"Can you imagine us two running around together as kids?" he almost laughed at the idea as a picture formed in his mind.

A little girl of seven with blonde pigtails and a dirty face, chasing around with an older boy of maybe eleven or so, with unruly hair and no shoes on his feet. They'd've been quite the pair of tearaways, creating havoc wherever they went, but it might've been nice too.

Parker sighed in the silence and nestled closer into Eliot's side. It ought to be an awkward position with the gear shift between them and all. Instead it felt like the most natural thing in the world to be sat here like this. Without thinking, he kissed the top of her head and let his fingers trace random patterns on her shoulder.

"I wish we really had met when we were younger," she said, her voice almost too soft to be her own. "Then you could've taken care of me, and we could've gone to school together, and... and you could've been my first kiss," she smiled genuinely as she picked her head up off his shoulder and stared at him then.

Eliot so wanted her in that moment. Kissing her might've been enough to sate his thirst for this woman, he thought, but immediately called himself a liar. He wanted more than that, he loved her too much to just let her slip through his fingers, and yet he couldn't deserve what she was offering. Still, with her face right up close and her lips just a hair's breadth from his own, it was hard not to let it happen.

"It was different, when you kissed me before," she told him, though Eliot felt her words more than he heard them. "I never thought it meant anything. Kissing and sex and everything, but..."

She didn't get any further with whatever she might've said. Eliot only had so much self control and he'd just about come to the end of it after the past few days and all their trials and tribulations. The two of them kissing seemed to be becoming a trend on this trip. Parker talked about him being so different, about her own feelings being different where he was concerned. Eliot wasn't dumb, he knew that she could never properly explain herself at the best of times, not when it came to emotions and most of all when it came to interacting with people. Not that he could explain this undeniable connection they had either, but he had an idea what he really wanted to do about it right now.

Mindful of how he so easily hurt her before, Eliot held her closely but carefully, as if she were made of glass. It wasn't quite what she wanted apparently, since Parker had her seatbelt off already and was making fast work of climbing into his lap. She wanted more, closer and intense, and Eliot didn't know how to argue the point anymore. It felt too good to give in, so easy to let it happen. They both wanted it, he was running out of reasons why it was wrong. She deserved better than him, he knew that and always had, but if she didn't care, if she truly would rather be with him than any other better man that came along, it had to be her choice.

It was right around the point of this revelation, that Eliot's mind quit working right at all. Parker may not be the most experienced of women, but damn she knew how to kiss a man in such a way as to lose himself. Of course, one thought managed to stay afloat even as the hitter started to drown in this passionate moment. Parker may not be a virgin, but sex for her hadn't meant much before. The whole two times it happened it'd been entirely forgettable. That was not going to be the case a third time.

She moaned in protest when he broke contact, more so when she realised she'd been duped. Parker realised too late that her butt was in the passenger seat and Eliot was sliding into the driver's side, his lips leaving her own and his arms no longer holding her. When he looked to her face, he saw pain that he shared, but it was a small price to pay in the end.

"It's okay," he promised her. "We're not done yet, but this ain't the place, darlin'," he told her, putting his seat belt on and encouraging her to do the same.

Parker was vaguely confused, not least because the lack of oxygen to her brain was making her head spin. Her skin still tingled every place Eliot's hands had been, even through her clothes, and something had stirred in her the like of which she never knew could. She wanted him, she needed him, she might even say she loved him if she truly understood what that meant. Right now being even two feet away in the next seat felt like a mile or more, and it hurt in all kinds of ways.

It only started to occur to Parker as Eliot turned the truck around and drove at high speed, that he was taking them some place better where they could continue what she had started here. She remembered what he said about how sex should be special and with a grin on her face Parker realised this was really happening; Eliot wasn't going to cast her aside this time. Maybe at last he was starting to believe that he was the Prince Charming she was supposed to be with, if not forever and happily ever after, then certainly for now and for a good long while to come.

The hotel came into sight but Parker barely noticed anything. She didn't wonder about what alias Eliot gave at the desk or what kind of room he got them. The wallpaper could've been any colour of the rainbow and the view from the window of anything at all. Parker didn't see and she didn't care. She was curious all right but not about her surroundings, not when Eliot stood before her with that intense look in his eyes that could glue any person to the spot without hardly trying. She loved that look, especially when he was using it on her.

For Eliot himself, this was all such a weird experience. Good, in every way he could think of, but nothing short of weird as well. Not since the first time he laid down with Aimee had he felt this nervous about sleeping with a woman. Of course he knew part of that was because Parker was so inexperienced, but when it came to truly making love, so was he. All those women he had taken to bed, thrilled to the dizzying heights of passion and all, he didn't love them. He remembered their names, because that was important, but that was just about all. Parker was so different, and though it would be wrong to compare her to his first love, he did know she was that type of special, just amplified a hundred fold after the way she acted on this trip.

Parker had seen the deepest darkest depths of his soul, and she was still here. She was stood before him, wearing a slightly nervous smile, and waiting for the first time in her life for a man to make the first move on her, without thinking about stabbing or running. It was an honour for Eliot to know he was this man, that she would put such faith in, would love somehow despite the flaws he knew were bigger than the state they stood in. She was still here, and so much more than he deserved, but damn if he wasn't going to try from tonight on.

Eliot's fingers slid into Parker's hair, and then to the back of her head as he pulled her forward and put his lips to hers once again. What started in the truck reignited fast the most they touched again, and Parker hadn't a doubt that this was going to a whole new experience. The first two times she had sex, it didn't seem like much. Today, Eliot had proven that with the right person, just a kiss could set a person on fire. She hardly dare wonder on how it was going to feel when things went further, but it was clear she was about to find out.

"You sure?" he checked, the softest whisper in her ear but it made her smile all the same.

"Oh yeah," she told him breathlessly, pulling his head around for another kiss.

Parker had no regrets and not a hint of fear in her whole body as she felt herself tip back onto the bed with Eliot all but on top of her. This was how it was supposed to be, and she'd never been more sure about anything in her whole life.

_To Be Continued..._


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: All the wonderful reviews. I love knowing that so many people enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. Now, post-coital E/P - y'all ready for this? ;)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 15

Eliot Spencer woke up with the sun in his eyes, sand in unpleasant places, and an elbow in his ribs. Maybe he should've closed the blinds and taken a shower before sleeping last night, but that pain in his ribs reminded him in glorious Technicolor why those thoughts had never crossed his mind. Parker.

A smile came to Eliot's lips unbidden as he realised she was still exactly as she was when they fell asleep late into the night, their passion finally spent. If anything, she was curled up closer than she had been before, and he hadn't thought that was possible. Parker never seemed like the cuddling type, but then most people would say the same about Eliot. Only the two of them needed to know the truth, that with the right person, all they wanted to do was be as close as possible.

It was a relief to realise that he had slept soundly all night, and a pleasant surprise to note she had done the same. Eliot hadn't considered what had happened the last time Parker slept in his arms just twenty four hours earlier, or the pain he had caused either. When he made love to her last night, he laid kisses on those angry marks he had made on her neck that were now already fading. She healed fast, like he did, the body adapting to the necessity over the years perhaps. In this moment, it didn't matter so very much. She had proved that, his fallen angel, his beautiful Parker. She put every ounce of trust she had in him last night, and he was determined to prove himself worthy of that.

Eliot let his fingers wander through her long blonde hair and kissed the top of her head. She wasn't just gorgeous in her looks, she was just as beautiful on the inside. Despite her love of thievery, she had this pure heart, and she wanted him to have it. No, she never said she loved him, and he never would expect her to. The fact was he hadn't said it either, but there couldn't be any doubt after the night they'd spent together that it was what they both felt. Sex was all well and good, but they made love here in this bed, that much Eliot was sure of, even if everything else was such a blur.

"Hmm," Parker made a little sighing sound as she shifted against his chest.

"Morning, darlin'," he greeted her as her eyes fluttered open and she peered up at him.

"Hi," she smiled slowly, shifting her naked body against his own amongst a tangle of covers, loving the memories that flooded in just as soon as she was more awake.

Last night had been the most amazing experience for Parker, something she never did expect. She told Eliot just a few days ago that she had little experience of sex, just the two guys that were far from memorable. Now her hitter friend had become number three on her short list of lovers, only she couldn't call what they'd done the same thing as she'd experienced before, not at all. This had been more than memorable, more than just a physical release for the sake of doing it. He made her feel alive in a way even stealing a diamond or throwing herself off a high rise could not achieve. Parker didn't understand, but for once that wasn't a scary feeling, not when Eliot was here to hold her.

"You okay?" he checked, and neither of them were sure exactly what he meant.

Physically she was fine, a little tender from the new type of exertion perhaps, but that was all. Emotionally she was kind of drained, but still okay. All in all, Parker wasn't sure she had ever felt this calm, not least when she realised she had a whole night's sleep without a single hint of a nightmare.

"Yeah, I'm good," she promised him. "You?" she asked, with just the slightest hint of nerves in her tone, as she propped her chin on her hands and peered up at him from his own chest.

"I honestly don't know," he admitted, rubbing his eyes with the hand not still tangled in her hair. "I do know that you are the most amazing woman I ever met," he told her then, a smile that he couldn't help playing at his lips. "But that just makes me wonder what the hell you're doin' anywhere near a guy like me?"

"Hey," she socked him in the chest for such a comment, catching Eliot off guard. "You're not gonna start that again. Not after... I mean, I didn't know..."

Parker was frowning hard as she tried to find the right words. It wasn't easy for her to verbalise feelings. She never really thought much about having any since they only seemed to make her weak in the past. With Eliot, it was different. She liked the things he could make her feel, she didn't want that to go away, she didn't want _him_ to go away. In fact it was her biggest fear that he might, and that was scary all on its own. The thought of it had her sitting up fast, clutching the sheet to her chest.

"Parker?"

He had only said her name but there was so much to the question it sounded like.

"You said when you love someone it feels different," she said too softly, barely looking back over her shoulder at Eliot. "You said that, and then we did it and... Was it just me?" she asked, spinning around so fast she almost threw herself clean off the bed. "Did you not feel different? Because I feel different. All the kinds of different, and I like it, a lot, but at the same time..."

"It terrifies you," he finished for her, knowing just exactly what she was saying because he was there with her, right down to the tears in her eyes and the shake in her voice.

He reached for her then and she went willingly back into his arms, sinking into the kiss that came next and seemed like the most natural thing in the world. They were people of action, not of words. It was that much easier somehow to show how they felt than ever speak of it. That was okay, because they were both on the same page, they both understood what this was now. No more pretending they were just friends or that neither of them had feelings or a past. They weren't perfect people on their own, but more and more it seemed they were proving to be perfect for each other.

"Y'know," Eliot sighed as Parker laid down beside him once again, her head on his shoulder now. "I can't ever deserve you, Parker, but damn it, I'm gonna try," he promised.

"So long as you're gonna stick around, and just be Eliot like always," she told him. "That works for me, except..."

"Except, what?" he checked when she didn't finish her sentence after a few moments, shifting to see her face.

"Well, I don't want to be just like we were before," she said, turning her whole body into his own. "Last night was... We can do that again, right?"

Parker didn't get a verbal response, but she really didn't need one. Eliot's mouth capturing her own, his hands moving over her skin was enough for her to know his answer was a definite yes, and a whole lot sooner than she expected.

* * *

Parker couldn't stop smiling. It wasn't all that strange a feeling. She got happy a lot, when she was stealing things, or counting money, or eating her third bowl of delicious cereal. The difference today was that she hadn't done any of the usual things that made her giddy like this, she had done other things that made her feel very different, but very, very good.

Sex with Eliot was amazing; the first time last night, and the second time this morning, and the third time in the shower which she was still buzzing from. That hadn't really been a plan so much as the lure of getting near Eliot's naked flesh again had been too much for Parker. They were supposed to be getting clean and dressed, and setting off on the next leg of their journey. Now finally she was mostly ready, and Eliot was just finishing up in the bathroom. They'd be back on the road within a half hour, just a little behind the schedule Eliot seemed determined to keep.

"I know you're there," she said, looking over her shoulder to see the hitter leaning in the doorway to the bathroom. "What?" she asked, just a little self-conscious when he continued to stare at her so seriously.

At first he didn't seem to have an answer for her. He shook his head almost imperceptibly as if he wasn't even sure himself. Then eventually he spoke.

"Thank you, Parker," he told her, the merest whisper, but in the silence of the small hotel room she heard well enough.

"For what?" she asked in earnest. "Because what happened in the shower was not all me, not by a loooong way," she said, her hands making wild gestures to match her words.

Eliot might've laughed at her over-enthusiastic ways, but now wasn't the time. There was nothing funny about how he felt, about how Parker could make him feel. He walked further into the room and reached for her hands, pulling her closer, looking her right in the eyes.

"No, thank you for... for just being you," he sighed, tucking her damp hair back behind her ear. "For not running away when you saw the worst of me. For still caring after everything," he explained, his fingers stilling on her neck where he had hurt her before.

"For maybe the first time in my life, I don't have anything to run from," she shrugged, as if it were no big deal at all, even when they both knew it certainly was. "I have you now, and you have me, and yeah, that's kind of scary as hell," she admitted. "But it's also nice, it's... good," she smiled again then. "It's like for the first time in my life I know where I belong, and it's with you."

It was a sweet sentiment, but somehow Parker made herself laugh with it. Eliot ought to have known she would, since the woman would almost always bust up into fits of giggles whenever a normal person would just smile or even cry.

"There's something wrong with you," he told her fondly, his hand cupping her cheek. "But since I'm pretty sure there's something seriously wrong with me too, this crazy thing just might work out."

"Maybe," she agreed with a nod and a bright smile that out-did the sun in Eliot's eyes. "And if it doesn't, at least the sex is fantastic."

That one even made Eliot laugh as he pulled Parker closer and wrapped his arms right around her. The word 'love' was on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it down. Now wasn't the time somehow, even though it might've seemed perfect to anyone else in a similar situation. Parker was like no-one else in the world and that meant nothing was ever going to be normal for as long as this relationship lasted. Eliot could live with that. He honestly hoped and prayed he got the chance to do so for a long time yet, whether he deserved it or not.

* * *

Parker wasn't sure she'd ever felt as relaxed and happy as she did today. Waking up in Eliot's arms after a night experiencing feelings she never knew she could have was the strangest kind of perfect. Now here they were, back on the road, him driving and her right there beside him, her feet propped up on the dash and the sun blazing down on them, all warm and reassuring. It was as if the weather wanted to match the mood Parker found herself in, and she liked that a lot.

Eliot had got them back on the right track after her little detour into Kansas. They were headed where he wanted to go, and that was fine by her. She never had asked where they were headed in the end, because it honestly didn't matter. It still didn't now, not when she was with Eliot. He was never going to take her anywhere bad or let anything awful happen to her. She had known it before and believed it all the more strongly now.

"Huh," she said aloud as a thought struck her, one thing about their shared night that she hadn't thought of before.

"What?" asked Eliot, looking sideways at her for all of a moment before he had to concentrate on the road again - the sign said they were now entering Oklahoma state.

"I was just thinking," she admitted, staring out of the windshield still. "I can't remember the last time I spent a night without Bunny when I wasn't afraid the nightmares would come... until last night."

Eliot couldn't help the smile that came to his lips then. It wasn't just that he was flattered by her probably unintentional compliment. It was so much more.

"Y'know, I thought of that too," he told her. "Any normal night and I would've been freaking out about letting a woman stay with me, in case... But not last night."

Parker knew exactly what he meant, one hand going absently to her throat where he grabbed her before. She had almost completely forgotten she was ever injured. That incident seemed like a lifetime ago somehow, as did the one where he talked her through her own nightmares, and the fight they had over her making him sing at that bar in Covington. This trip that had been just a week long so far seemed to have been going on forever, and every day was a new world, most especially today.

"You never did tell me where we were going," she realised then.

"Maybe because you never did ask, sweetheart," Eliot reminded her. "You wanna know now?" he checked.

"I guess," she shrugged, making it clear that it still didn't really matter.

If he gave her the name of the place it probably wouldn't mean much. There was another way to say it, the truest way he knew. Eliot just wasn't sure how Parker would react.

"I'm takin' you home with me, to my home, where I'm from," he said, sparing her a quick glance. "You okay with that?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, still smiling brightly he noticed. "Wherever I go with you is home for me now."

Eliot had never heard more perfect words than those.

_To Be Continued..._


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: My reviews for the previous chapter are all full of 'aaaww', and I love that! lol I thought I'd gotten too corny, but nope, apparently not. Now the truth of what Eliot meant by 'going home'...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 16

Parker wasn't sure when she fell asleep. It was unlike her to do so in any place that she hadn't locked and bolted, ensuring she was alone and safe. The difference was that this truck was a safe place to be without any checking or locking. Eliot was here to make sure she was okay, safe, taken care of. There was no fear in Parker when the hitter was close by, there never had been. Now more than ever she trusted this man, and allowed herself to drift off right there in the passenger seat of his truck.

There had been dreams that made her smile. Beautiful memories of the night before, mixed up with romantic scenes from movies she had seen and wondered at. Now she thought she finally understood how people got so happy and even so dumb over being in love. Not that she was quite willing to admit that was the state she had found herself in with Eliot, but it had to be damn close.

Right before her eyes opened to the darkening sky, she smiled at the thought of always waking up as she had this morning, wrapped in Eliot's arms, all warm and safe. She had been on a ranch in her dream, something very similar to Aunt Katy's place. Thinking of her usually drew a tear from Parker, but today it was only a smile she could find for the memories in her mind. She understood why her unconscious mind had linked that place from her childhood with her new feelings for Eliot. Both had felt so much like home.

"Hey, sleepyhead," the man himself smiled when he realised Parker was back in the land of the living. "You okay?"

"Uh-huh," she replied groggily, a yawn escaping as she stretched her body out as much as the truck would allow.

She had been comfy enough for a while there but this was not an ideal place to rest.

Every muscle in Parker's body protested at being stretched to capacity after so long cramped up. She didn't pay much mind to the aches though, her mind was more occupied with the view through the windshield.

"Where are we?" she checked, noting the sun riding low over a hill.

Eliot had a definite plan to be wherever they were headed before dark, so they had to be close.

"A couple of miles out," he explained. "Won't be long now."

Parker didn't really react to his words or his tone. Bless her heart, she probably didn't even notice the shake he tried to keep out of his voice, Eliot realised. Truthfully, this was the only place he had wanted to be for weeks now, and yet, now they were as close as close could be, all he wanted to do was turn and run.

Home was where the heart lived, that was what they said and what Eliot knew to be true enough. He really did leave a part of himself here way back when the family up and left for Kentucky, and his Momma had done the same.

With himself and his sister gone off into their own lives, and Daddy long done for this world, it was obvious to Eliot that his mother would come back to Oklahoma. They'd had their best years in this place, she always said so, and he knew she was right.

Of course, in a lot of ways he felt at home just being here with Parker at his side. The little thief had snuck up on him in more ways than one, found a way into a heart Eliot barely believed he had anymore, and set up home. She was amazing, in more ways than the hitter could ever count, and as crazy as she was, he wouldn't change her for the world. Introducing her to his mother actually didn't bother him at all, though usually having Parker meet 'normal' people was a bad idea. She wasn't just the crazy thief on his team anymore, if she ever really had been that. She had become a friend, and then closer. Now she was everything and more to Eliot. He had meant what he said about never being able to deserve her, that was true enough, but he also meant every word when he promised to try in the future. She deserved the best and yet she had chosen him. It was flattering, humbling, and a whole bunch of other things Eliot couldn't even put into words. He loved Parker for wanting him in spite of everything, for caring, maybe even loving him like she did. In didn't matter that she might never say it or even understand it. She was here, and she was staying, from what she had told him. That was all Eliot really needed.

"Is it a big hotel?" she asked all of a sudden, and Eliot pushed down a smirk.

"There is no hotel, Parker," he told her.

"Oh," she reacted with a nod that he thought meant she understood, but she didn't. "So you have a house here? I guess that's where some of that money went that you never explained in the beginning," she went on thoughtfully, looking out all around.

"I don't have a house here," Eliot told her, as he pulled over to the side of the road.

Parker was confused and it showed on her ever-expressive face. Between Eliot's spotty explanation of where they were staying tonight and his suddenly pulling over like this, it was just weird. The engine cut off and he turned some in his seat to look at her in the half-shadows of twilight.

"I probably shoulda talked to you about this before," he considered, looking as awkward as Parker had ever seen him. "Er, when I said I was coming home, I never really explained," he went on, one hand pushing his hair back off his face. "See, this is the town I grew up in, from a babe in arms 'til I was almost thirteen," he explained. "Momma moved back here a while back, got herself a little house with the money she had left when my Daddy passed on... It's her I was coming to see."

Parker wasn't sure what she was meant to say to that. Eliot was coming back to Oklahoma to see his mother, a person he mentioned rarely and who she had never seen in a picture or anything. She had no mother herself, she certainly wouldn't know how to act around the woman Eliot called Momma. The panic was evident on her features, it must have been from the look Eliot gave her then.

"Parker, please, don't go freakin' out on me, darlin'," he urged her, reaching for her shaking hands. "Sweetheart, I know this is supposed to be a big deal, when you meet a persons folks and all, but... well, I had no idea this was gonna happen on the way down here," he shook his head. "You and me, that came as some sort of surprise. A good one," he promised with a smile. "But still a surprise."

"Surprise, yeah," Parker echoed, thinking more about where they had ended up and what it now meant.

She wasn't traditional, and knew little of how relationships were meant to work. Still, even Parker had seen movies and heard talk. She understood it was a very big deal when two people were dating and one wanted the other to meet the parents. She had no parents for Eliot to meet, except for Archie, and that already happened. Honestly, it hadn't gone so well, now that she thought about it. God only knew what would happen if Eliot took her to his mother's house and introduced her.

"Parker?" he prompted when she continued to stare into the nothingness beyond the windshield, not saying a word.

"I should go," she blurted out. "I mean, you came to see your mother, and she'll want to see you, obviously," she rattled on without really breathing in at all. "She doesn't know me. She won't want to, when she can just have you to herself. I'll just get in the way and not know how to talk to her or act like a normal person, and..."

"Hey, hey, slow down," Eliot urged her to both breathe and stop trying to scramble from the truck. "Darlin', c'mon, this is crazy," he told her, reaching to put a hand to her face and make her look at him.

"I _am_ crazy, remember?" she snapped perhaps a little too harshly. "I.. I can't meet your mother."

"Parker, calm the hell down," he told her firmly but without any real anger or spite. "Babe, there's nothing wrong with the way you are, not in a bad way, I swear to God, there's not," he promised her, eyes locked onto her own so she understood how much he meant what he said. "Now, if this is too big a step for you, I get it. I can find a hotel for you, you don't have to meet my mother," he assured her, at which she visibly relaxed. "But Parker, don't let it be 'cause you don't think you're good enough. I already told you a thousand times that I'm the undeserving one here. You... you're worth a million of me, and my Momma would love you."

She didn't know what she was supposed to say, how to express what she was feeling. At this point in her life, Parker thought she was well used to the fact she could never verbalise the warring emotions inside her heart, but it never got easier. She wanted so badly for Eliot to just know what she was thinking and feeling, it'd make life that much easier. Sometimes he managed to read her like a book, but this was new territory for both of them, and she couldn't expect him to be that smart all the time.

"How do you know she'd like me?" she asked shakily, leaning her cheek into his palm. "When we first met, you didn't like me, and I didn't like you."

Eliot had to admit she had a point there. When the team first came together in Chicago, even when they reunited later in Los Angeles, he couldn't imagine genuinely caring for any of them. Now he saw brothers and a sister in those they'd left behind in Boston, and Parker meant the absolute world to him. Eliot couldn't promise his mother would like his new girlfriend instantly, but he had a pretty good idea that she would somehow.

"You trust me, right?" he asked, at which Parker huffed.

"Obviously," she rolled her eyes, a movement he could only just make out against the ever darkening surroundings.

"Then trust me when I tell you that you and Momma will get along just fine," he assured her, running his hand back through her hair as he leaned in closer. "And if you don't, I swear we can leave whenever you want, okay?"

It was a good deal, Parker could see that. She could also feel the warmth of Eliot's body close to hers and his breath on her face when he spoke. She so wanted to kiss him right now and decided why the hell not as she made it happen. A good long deep kiss gave her the last bit of confidence she needed.

"Okay," she said breathlessly when they parted, foreheads still pressed together. "If you really want me to, I'll meet your Momma," she smiled.

"Thank you, Parker," Eliot replied. "Thank you."

* * *

Despite agreeing to meet Eliot's mother, and being sure she did want to, Parker felt so very nervous as they neared the house. Her palms were sweating and her heart beat faster, much like was prone to happen when she started to panic on a job. It didn't happen often, but when the Steranko had her pinned down, when the FBI had them surrounded at the docks, she felt the symptoms of blind fear start to build. This was less terrifying because Eliot was here and he promised to make it all okay, no matter what. She was as excited to see the missing piece of the puzzle that was his mother as she was nervous at being turned away by yet another person.

All of a sudden, Eliot pulled the truck up outside the front of the house and turned off the engine. Parker looked sideways at the building, a medium sized house, out on its own, though the lights of the town they'd just passed through were not even a mile away. It looked like something out of some senators campaign commercial. A happy little family home in the country, except no family lived here, just one woman.

"You ready?" asked Eliot as he took off his seat-belt and reached for the door handle.

"Yeah," Parker all but squeaked, making herself breathe as she hopped out the passenger side.

They met at the front of the truck and Eliot reached for Parker's hand, squeezing it gently as they headed for the front door. The hitters free hand hooked his aviators in between the buttons of his shirt and then straightened out his hair. This was the first time he had seen his mother in maybe five years. Parker thought she was nervous, but she had no idea what he was feeling right now. His heart hammered in his chest as he headed up to the front door and raised a fist to knock.

Clearing his throat, Eliot knocked in a specific pattern, and then waited. Parker shifted from foot to foot beside him, unsure what to expect, when suddenly there was a grumbling behind the door. The words weren't clear, but Parker was sure she heard a couple of light curse words, then a rattle of locks being undone. All at once the door came open, and there she was.

"Hello, Momma," said Eliot with a kind of nervous smile at his lips.

"Land sakes!" the woman before him exclaimed, her hands flying to her face a moment. "Oh, Eliot! Oh, my boy!" she all but laughed as she reached out to grab at her son and pull him into a tight hug.

Eliot's hand came free of Parker's own whilst he hugged his mother back, tears in his eyes that he just couldn't help. Man, he had missed her so much, and hadn't entirely realised how much until he saw her again.

"It's so good to have you home," the older woman sighed against his shoulder, and even Parker felt a little moved, but more so as if she were intruding.

"'S good to be here, Momma," Eliot promised her. "But it ain't just me that came visiting. I got someone here I want you to meet," he explained as they pulled out of their hug and he reached once again for the little thief's hand. "Parker, this is Rebecca Spencer, my mother," he told her. "Momma, this is Parker. She's... she's my girl," he said simply.

Before Parker had a chance to react to those words, she was being pulled into a tight embrace by the woman she had only just met. Strangely, there was no feeling like she should stab or run. On the contrary, Parker hugged Mrs Spencer back and stared over her shoulder through a veil of tears at Eliot. She hadn't realised when he said they were going home just how much it would feel that way for her too.

_To Be Continued..._


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: This is it, folks. The end of the road, beyond the end of the road**_**trip**_** ;) I am sincerely grateful for all the lovely feedback I have received throughout - you're all wonderful people, you really are! This fic has been one of my favourite to write, maybe ever actually. I'm so glad that so many of you have enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now, without further ado, the final chapter...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 17

Mrs Rebecca Spencer was hilarious. That was one of the first things Parker learnt on meeting Eliot's mother, and she loved it. She had kind of assumed that a serious growly person like her hitter boyfriend would have a really stern, strict parent behind him. Whilst she was assured that Becky (as she was encouraged to call her) could be that way when she had to be, she was also loving and warm, and just so funny! She told stories of years gone by, happy family times when Eliot and his sister were little kids. Parker laughed along, eating home-made scones with fresh butter, and drinking real lemonade. Eliot's arm was around the back of her chair and his blue eyes sparkled all the brighter as he looked between his mother and Parker herself. This was definitely a good happy place to be.

It didn't matter that it was well past midnight before anyone checked the time. Nobody had anywhere special to be tomorrow, they all just wanted to be here together. Parker hadn't really known she could feel this good about a new and strange place before, but then she never knew anyone like Eliot in her dark and lonely past.

"I know I got me my old-fashioned ways, but I'm guessin' you two wanna be sharing a room tonight?" asked Becky as she got up to clear the table.

Eliot grabbed the glassware from her hands and made a big deal of doing the chore for her.

"We don't have to share a bed, if you think sex is wrong...?" asked Parker, not even noticing the way Eliot winced as he went through to the kitchen.

"Oh, honey, I got nothin' against a little sex," Becky told her with a wink. "Truth be known, that's one of the biggest things I miss about my late husband, God rest his soul," she whispered, for fear of damaging her son's brain if he overheard. "Fact o' the matter bein' I ain't as stupid as some think. I know you young 'uns all live for the moment, even more than some folks did when I was growing up," she sighed. "I ain't judgin' you, honey, or that boy of mine. The fact he brought you here proves to me that he cares for you a damn lot," she smiled warmly, taking Parker's chin in her hand.

To her credit, the little thief tried her hardest not to flinch. She even smiled when she realised how kind Eliot's mother was really being.

"My, but you are pretty. Eliot, I hope you tell this young woman just how pretty she is," Becky told her son just as soon as he was back in the room.

"She knows it, Momma," he rolled his eyes before turning them to meet Parker's own. "Parker's beautiful, inside and outside. Anybody who doesn't see that would have to be blind and dumb."

Becky might've said something else after that but Parker didn't hear. She was so overwhelmed by the things Eliot was saying about her. He'd said them before, of course, both in the truck and when they spent the night in that hotel room, exploring the passion that ignited between them. This was different. This was in front of another person, and that person was Eliot's own mother. Somehow that made it a much bigger deal because to her mind it made it all the more true.

Parker found herself being ushered up the stairs more suddenly than she was ready for, her mind still stuck back in the conversation where Eliot had called her beautiful and his Momma seemed to agree. She had never had so much warmth and love thrown at her all at once like this. Even though there were only two people here with her, she never felt so much like she belonged in a family, not even with the team.

"You okay?" asked Eliot just as soon as they were alone upstairs together.

"Yeah, sure," Parker nodded along, trying to get her bearings.

"I know Momma can be a little... I dunno, I guess she seems intense to you or somethin'?" he shrugged, pushing his hair back off his face. "It's just been a long time since she's seen me, and you're like her dream come true, y'know? A woman I care so much about and actually brought home for her to meet, I didn't think..."

Eliot's words were abruptly cut off as he suddenly found his arms full of Parker and her lips pressed against his own in a sweet kiss. It only lasted a moment but somehow he knew it mattered more than it seemed.

"What was that for?" he asked softly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

There was a long moment when Parker didn't answer. She was hardly looking at him, in spite of the fact that this close she had few alternative options. Eliot felt her hands clasp and unclasp behind his head three times in some kind of nervous gesture and it made him worry. Just when he was about to ask what was up, she came out and said it.

"I... I love you?" she almost asked more than said it the first time, but then a smile came to her lips and she sounded more confident when she repeated those words. "I do. I love you, Eliot Spencer."

It had taken her all this time to be absolutely sure of herself. Parker had gone around in circles in her head this whole trip, maybe even before that. If she thought about it much, she was pretty sure she could track this line of thinking way back, before Boston even. The truth was, she had always known she had some kind of feelings where Eliot was concerned, she just didn't know what they were or how to deal with them. This trip proved they had a different relationship with each other than anyone else in the team. When they made love at the hotel before, it was like her head cleared and Parker understood that if anything could ever be called love it had to be this thing she had found with Eliot. Here tonight with him and his mother in this cosy home, she was so completely sure of herself all of a sudden. It just seemed like the perfect time to speak up.

The moment after the magical three words were out in the open seemed to go on forever in its silence. Eliot didn't say anything, he just didn't seem to react at all. So many emotions ran through Parker in that time, all the way from abject fear that she just screwed up, to overwhelming relief that she finally said the L word and meant it. Then Eliot kissed her.

The breath was completely knocked out of Parker, but in the best possible way. Her knees buckled with the intensity of the moment, making her entirely grateful for Eliot's strong arms that easily held her up. Her body pulled flush against his own, she was sure she about to drown somehow, when suddenly the kiss was over and his lips were near her ear.

"Love you too, Parker," he promised in a whisper that sent a shiver down her spine. "Love you 'til the day I die."

"Uh-uh," she said then, startling him from their moment of passion as she made a big deal of seeing his face and shaking her head emphatically. "No dying," she warned him too seriously. "Now you and me are an us, there is no dying, okay? You always have to come back from stuff, for me, _to_ me," she insisted. "Always," she said definitely.

It was an impossible promise for him to make and he swore he wouldn't do it, yet when they made love that night, it kind of felt like he had, without a word being spoken.

* * *

The garage to the back of Becky Spencer's house was not all meant for a car. Half of the smaller structure attached to the house held her vehicle, though she admitted to barely ever using it. The other half, or what actually proved to be the larger part, was where her horse lived.

Parker tried not to freak out when she found out a large four-legged beast was living right outside the back door. She wasn't as completely terrified of horses as she had been, and a part of her wondered if sharing with Eliot where her fear came from had helped to ease it a little somehow. It didn't make sense, but then very little of what happened with her and Eliot ever did. Parker never thought for a minute she could love a person the way people in movies and books seemed to, but here she was doing it. The craziness of her revelation made her snort with laughter, startling Becky who was sat beside her on the front porch.

"You okay there, honey?" the older woman checked, opening her eyes to look at the blonde.

They were relaxing out here and enjoin the sunshine whilst Eliot went to visit with Blackjack, his Momma's horse, that she swore could be the twin of one they had years ago when Eliot was a child and learning to ride himself. He had also promised to take a look at the car that had been rattling some lately, swearing that he didn't understand why his mother didn't trust garages at all, but she never did.

"I kinda love being here," said Parker with a sigh. "I love being anywhere with Eliot. It just hit me that... Well, it's weird, right?"

"Not when you love somebody, sweetheart," Becky assured her. "Y'know, I had dreams when I was young, much younger than you are now. Thought I needed to see the whole world, travel and all, y'know? Then I met Eliot's Daddy and... Oh, everything changes when you meet that special someone."

"Did you know right away that you loved him?" asked Parker with genuine interest, pulling her legs up under her until she was lotus style in the chair and yet still maintaining balance as it rocked back and forth.

"Aw, darlin', no!" said Becky with a veritable roar of laughter that Parker found contagious. "Me and Billy, we started out having a feud worthy of the Hatfields and McCoys," she shook her head, smiling fondly at the memories, even though they didn't sound so great to Parker. "When you fight that hard with a person, there has to be a genuine passion underneath it all. One day, we had this blazing fight, I up and threw a rock clean at his head without so much as thought about it. He dodged it, but not by much, and he come rushing at me, all bluster and yellin' like the sky was fallin'... and then he just kissed me."

Parker was riveted by the tale Eliot's Momma spun. She understood that sometimes people fought when they cared for each other. Eliot and Hardison fought all the time, but underneath it all, they loved each other like brothers, she was sure. Then there was Nate and Sophie. They had some terrible fights but Parker was sure one day they'd get married and have babies and live happily ever after like a fairytale, an unconventional kind of fairytale, but still. For her and Eliot, they had fought pretty hard in the beginning too. Now they were in the kissing and loving stage, and Parker liked that a whole lot better.

"You love my Eliot a whole lot, don'tcha, honey?" Becky asked, startling Parker just a little. "Ah now, don't ya go all coy on me," she smiled kindly when the blonde floundered. "I know I ain't the person you wanna talk to about what you and my boy get up to, and I understand, but I need you to know... Well, I used to worry about Eliot a whole lot," she explained, looking too serious suddenly. "Truth is I know he ain't no saint, furthest from for a while there, but he come through that. He's been atoning and, and I truly believe that monster that lived in him a while might finally have breathed its last."

Parker was a little surprised by the way Becky was talking. She kept her mouth closed about things she knew Eliot had done, things they had done on jobs together, all that kind of stuff. She wasn't clear on how much Eliot had told his mother about his 'career', and it wasn't her place to spoil anything. That'd just make him mad, and she had no want to do that. As it was, it seemed Becky knew a whole lot, if not everything about her son's past, and she was okay with it. When you loved someone, Parker knew it was so much easier than perhaps it ought to seem to accept bad things.

"You done made the difference, Parker," Eliot's Momma told her, leaning across to reach for her hand. "I'm not sayin' he weren't gettin' there on his own. Maybe he could've, but I believe you make a real difference. You're a very special woman, Parker. I see that. I know it from the was my boy looks at you and all."

"He's special too," she shrugged like it didn't really matter, like it was no big deal, even though somehow she knew it was. "He cares about me even though I'm... the way I am. Not everybody gets me," she tried to explain. "Eliot does somehow."

"Feels good when you find that, don't it?" Becky smiled fondly, remembering feeling just the same with her beloved husband.

The pair of them were smiling like fools when Eliot came around the side of the building. His arms were on show, hair flying loose, and grease marks on his hands and face from where he worked on the car. If Becky hadn't been sat there, Parker would've jumped him right there and then, just because she could. As it was, she had learnt a few scant lessons in propriety these past two or three years with the team. You don't make out with a guy in front of his mother, even Parker knew that.

"You girls having fun?" he smiled at the sight of his two favourite women getting along.

"Just talkin' 'bout menfolk," his mother told him with a smirk to rival her son's own.

She slapped his hand when he stole her lemonade, but let him have it anyway when he turned on those puppy dog eyes she knew so well. He had fixed the car apparently, and complimented his Momma on her beauty of a horse. It was all very sweet and civilised and family-like. Parker loved being a spectator in the scene. She hoped to see many more like it.

* * *

It was late in the evening. Parker had thoroughly enjoyed splitting her time between getting to know Becky and just being close to Eliot. The couple had walked all through the countryside around the house, took in the views and literally rolled in the hay. It was all about freedom and love and everything Parker could think to want. There were no high rises to jump off, her harness was forgotten, and money didn't matter. This was such a beautiful place and a beautiful day, and it was set to end just as well as it started.

Wandering out onto the front porch, she found Eliot sat on the steps with his guitar in his hands. He was strumming chords and humming a tune, just for the moon and stars above, as far as Parker could tell. Wordlessly, she came to sit beside him, and he barely knew she was there until her head landed softly on his shoulder.

"Hey, darlin'," he greeted her with a smile and a kiss on the lips. "You okay?"

"Happy," she sighed contentedly. "It's just... Here feels good."

"Really does," Eliot agreed, not so sure he was any more eager to leave than she was.

It was true that they had left a make-shift family back in Boston. He did care about Hardison, Sophie, and even Nate. They had made a kind of home over there in Massachusetts, but the fact of the matter was, this still felt that little bit better. Eliot came on this trip to clear his head, to make his peace with Moreau rearing his ugly head again, stirring up emotions and memories he had thought long buried.

On the way down here to his Momma's house, he had connected with Parker in ways he never could have imagined. They'd been friends a long time, closer than friends, maybe, though he hadn't thought on it much until he was made to. Now Eliot understood what he had tried to deny too long. He loved this woman, and she loved him. He wasn't really worthy of her in his own eyes, but the fact of the matter was, she thought he deserved her, she wanted to be with him. As he'd known from the beginning, there was just no arguing with Parker, and he really didn't want to anymore.

"How long can we stay here?" she asked, running her fingers along his arm as he played a few more random chords.

"Well..." he started to answer but never quite managed it as a buzzing started up in Parker's pocket, and then quickly after, in his own as well.

Eliot carefully put down the guitar, a bad feeling stirring in his gut as they both reached for their cells. He wasn't surprised to see a message from Hardison and guessed Parker had the same one or something very similar on her own display. Nate was putting a job together, and their help was needed. The hacker wanted to know if they were coming home or not.

Eliot and Parker looked up and met each other's eyes, neither of them looking exactly thrilled, neither of them wanting to be the first one to give an answer. Home. It was an objective sort of word. Boston was where they had settled with the team, and that same team were like family. It would be good to see them again, but here felt good, being the two of them together as they were, without the complications of outside influence.

"You wanna go?" asked Eliot eventually, honestly not sure which answer he was pulling for.

"No... and yes," Parker admitted, blowing her bangs off her forehead. "You think they'll mind that we're... y'know, together and stuff?" she asked awkwardly.

"Ain't none of their business, darlin'," he told her definitely, looking as severe as he ever did about anything. "They'll learn to live with it whether they like it or not, if you wanna go back."

"Don't you?" she checked with a slight frown as she stared at him. "I mean, we told your Mom that we help people, and I like that we do," she considered. "It's good, it's... atoning," she used the word she hadn't really understood until Becky had said it today.

Eliot felt a smile spread across his lips unbidden then. He put a hand behind Parker's head and drew her in to kiss her long and deep. She had no idea what she meant to him, or how much those words she just said meant either. The team was good for him, good for both of them, and Parker was much smarter than anyone else realised because she knew that. She knew they needed to keep doing what they were doing if they were going to survive. For now, it was their therapy and their penance and a whole bunch of other things that were harder to label. The upshot of it was, they had to go back to Boston, it was just the right thing to do, for everyone's sake.

"We'll set off first thing in the mornin', okay?" he checked with Parker, still holding her close.

"Uh-huh," she smiled and nodded her agreement, up until a yawn overtook her.

Eliot wasted no time lifting her into his arms, managing to grab the guitar on the way up too. He walked her inside and up to their room, saying goodnight to his Momma on the way.

Tomorrow they headed back the way they came, him and Parker against the world. Somehow Eliot felt it had always been that way, maybe even before they met each other on that first job in Chicago, whether it made sense or not. It was certainly going to be that way from now on, that was for damn sure.

The End


End file.
